Where My Heart Belongs
by gen'ei honsho
Summary: Since her tragic loss, Kagome felt like she did not belong. Little did she know that someone would be there to make sure she knew where her heart belonged. Rated M for later chaps.
1. Updated: Story and Character Intros

_AN: This is my first fanfiction. I have decided that I am going to revise the story -- I'm not happy with the way I wrote some things but I also for got to add some things I forgot the first time I uploaded the story. I have had a couple of readers express that they hate it when people who don't speak Japanese throw in Japanese words and\or phrases into the mix. As a result, I am totally going to Americanize my story. I want to apologize in advance for any out of character behavior with which any of my readers may have a problem. This is an alternate universe story and I am only giving my interpretation of the Sesshomaru-Kagome relationship. There will be deaths of major characters, so, please, I ask that you do not get offended. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything associated with the manga or anime show._

**Story's and Character's Background**

Story Background

This story is set in an alternate universe where demons and humans co-exist in as much harmony is expected between the two races. It will be laced with comedy, tragedy, angst, drama, romance and hopefully lots of fluffy stuff. Kagome's family has worked for the Taisho family all her life. Her father dies from a heart attack when she is 7 years old. 9 months later, when she turns 8, the rest of her family dies in a automobile accident on their way back home from the hospital -- her mother was there to give birth to her little brother. The Taisho family takes Kagome in as their ward.

Character Background

**Main Characters**

**Sesshomaru** **Taisho**-- 21 years old Inu Yokai. He is the son of Taisho Inu and an unnamed Inu Demoness who died giving birth to Sesshomaru. Vice President and heir of his father's company Western Lands Technologies. _Just something I made up_. Finishing up his Masters Degree in Business I know -- it's impossible to do this for some people. _**"We are talking about this Sesshomaru."**_ Always there to be Kagome's rock in the storm; he is the preverbal knight in shining armor in this story.

**Kagome Higurashi**-- 18 years old human. High school student/damsel in denial of her distress. _**"Bring it on Bitches."**_ All of her family had passed away by the time she was 8 years old. She truly feels blessed to have an extended family who loves her -- especially Sesshomaru.

**Supporting Characters**

Inu Taisho -- Handsome, stately, Inu Yokai in his late 40's. President and CEO/COO of Western Lands Technologies. Current Lord of the Western Lands. _Hey! Back away from the keyboard! Bad Inu! Kennel up! **Inu pokes out his lower lip, pouting, "Awwww! Party pooper."** _Big supporter of Sesshomaru and Kagome becoming mates.

Izayoi Taisho -- Human in her early 40's. She became Sesshomaru's mother when he was 1 year old. She is the MRS/MOM of the Taisho family. Current Lady of the Western Lands. _Had to give her props_. She, also, is a big supporter of Sesshomaru and Kagome being mates. _**Izayoi releases a heavy sigh as she fantasizes, 'All those adorable grand pups I will have.'**_ _Hey! Stay out of the background info page. Get back to the story!_ _**"Sorry."**_

Inuyasha Taisho -- 18 years old - half human/half Inu Yokai. High school student. Kagome's male best friend. Most handsome and strongest son of . . . _Would you leave my story alone? Give . . . me . . . that_ _**"As if you stupid wench," he says as he raises his claw, "Iron reaver soul stealer!" A female voice chimes in " SIT BOY!" THUD! BOOM! "GAAAHH!" **_Thanks, Kagome _**"No problem."**_ For the most part he is comic relief. He is in a relationship with Kikyo. Her main function is being a story prop. _I think I can make do with a puppet on a wooden stick_

Rin Taisho -- 16 years old - half human/half Inu Yokai. High school student. Very loyal to Kagome like a sister. _I'll let you say something, Rin. "**Thanks," she says waving at everyone "Hi." "HEEYY! NO FAIR!" "Inuyasha," "Oh, shit!" "SIT BOY!" "GAAAHH!"**_

Miroku Kazana -- 18 year old human. High school student. Inuyasha's male best friend and partner in comic relief. He is currently dating San . . . _HEY! GET YOUR HAND OFF MY ASS! **WHACK!!**_ _Thanks, Sango._ **_"My pleasure," she says dragging him off by his ear._** _Now, where was I. Oh yeah._ He is currently dating Sango, but, has a reputation of being somewhat of a pervert. What can I say? He just loves women.

Sango Taijiya -- 18 year old human. High school student. Kagome's female best friend. She is there for Kagome whenever she can. She is dating with Miroku. _**"When I'm not beating him for being such a PERVERT!" "But Sango, my love," he whimpers "my hand has a mind of its own."**_

Kagura Onigumo -- 20 year old Yokai. Sister to Naraku. She is obsessed with Sesshomaru. She somehow turns up wherever he is and acts like they are a couple. She hates Kagome with a passion and will do anything to keep her apart from Sesshomaru. _What a beyatch._ _**"I am not," Kagura says trying to defend herself but is cut off by everyone "YES, YOU ARE, KA-UGLY!"**_

Naraku Onigumo -- 21 year old half demon. Knows Sesshomaru through business connections. He becomes obsessed with Kagome _duh_. **"Yes," an evil sounding voice cues in trying to sound seductive "I am obsessed with the woman." "This Sesshomaru will not tolerate you insolence half-breed, Kagome is MINE!," eyes bleeding red. "I'm talking about the authoress of this story," he says giving me a lecherous leer.** _EW! GROSS!_ "_**I don't think so, demon cesspool. If Sesshomaru is claiming Kagome as his, then this lovely lady is going to be my woman." **Koga, You're not even in this story, idiot._


	2. Updated: Chapter 1 Life of the Party

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Inuyasha.

_Italics indicate dreams or flashbacks to childhood events._

**Bold indicates Inu Yokai talk.**

Summary: Since her tragic loss, Kagome felt like she did not belong. Little did she know that someone would be there to make sure she knew where her heart belonged. (I know I suck at summaries; but, I don't want to give away too much of the story.)

Where My Heart Belongs

Chapter 1 -- Life of the Party

Sesshomaru gritted his teeth as the group of loud teens downstairs interrupted his concentration on his business project. He decided that he had made a mistake coming home for Rin's 16th birthday. He saved the file on his laptop and got up to go downstairs.

"Shhhh . . . He's coming," an excited Rin frantically waved her hands whispering to everyone.

The teens scrambled to hide. Inuyasha hid behind a large chair to the left of the staircase. Kagome took a position behind the desk to the right of the staircase.

Sesshomaru sensed something was about to go down. As he walked off the last step, he thought, 'Are they really this stupid?' I can sense where they are.' He turned toward Inuyasha who had whipped out a can of neon green stringy stuff. He ducked as Inuyasha pressed the button to release the contents of the can. Sticky neon green strings flew over Sesshomaru's head towards Kagome who had come out her hiding place to take a shot with her neon pink loaded weapon. She aimed the can and fired its content at the target -- the back of Sesshomaru's head.

There was a dead silence -- for about a second. Inuyasha howled with laughter as he saw his brother's golden eyes widen in shock.

Sesshomaru placed a hand on the back of his head. He growled as he pulled his hand back to see pieces of neon pink sticky string clinging to it. He turned towards Kagome with narrowed eyes -- tinged with pink of their own.

Now, everyone else was laughing as they watched Kagome clutching her chest, staggering from side to side in a melodramatic manner. The weapon's fire deployed by Inuyasha had hit Kagome directly over her heart. She fell to the floor, rolled over once and played dead.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Miroku in an exaggerated dramatic tone as he rushed to Kagome's side, "I'll have to perform CPR!"

Both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru growled at their perverted friend as he moved his hands toward Kagome's chest. He froze when he heard Kagome threaten him, "Do you want to pull back a stump?" By then, Sango and Rin had moved behind Miroku. In their eyes, they had the death glare all girls give guys when they have royally messed up. He gasped as he slowly retreated behind Sango, who was now growling at him. He swallowed hard and whispered, "Help."

While all of this was going on, the doorbell had rung. Jaken appeared to attend to the visitor at the door. As soon as the door opened, Kagura came into view. Seeing Sesshomaru, she immediately pushed passed Jaken without being invited. She slinked over to Sesshomaru and said in a sleazy tone, "Just the demon I was looking . . . ," she stopped in mid-sentence and gasped in disgust. She looked from Sesshomaru to Inuyasha to Kagome and purred, "Oh my poor Sesshy-kun." She began pulling the sticky substance out of his hair. "What did you do?" She demanded looking at Inuyasha.

"Keh," Inuyasha huffed, "I thought I took out all the trash earlier -- guess I missed a piece." He finished with a defiant fanged grin.

Sesshomaru sighed heavily at the impending argument. Kagura pointed her finger at Inuyasha and screeched, "YOU ARE SO ANNOYING HALF-BREED." Inuyasha rolled his eyes -- dismissing the screaming banshee.

Kagome giggled at Inuyasha's actions as Rin was helping her off the floor. "AND YOU!" Kagura began, "You are more annoying than that waste of air.

Kagome put her hands on her hips and came back, "And, your point is?" she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head with a fake look of confusion on her face, "This affects me how?"

Sesshomaru smirked at her statement -- trying to hold back a breaking smile.

Hatred of Kagome oozed into Kagura's eyes as she spat out with venom, "You do not belong here. You are nothing more than a Taisho charity case. You are the most annoying. Nobody loves you. You're entire family despised you so much; they had to die just to get away from you!"

Everyone gasped and stared at the two females. Kagome stared at Kagura with a blank expression as she felt her heart drop. 'Don't give in to this bitch,'' Kagome thought trying to calm down. Old memories of her childhood flooded her mind as she was holding back tears that were welling in her eyes.

_FLASHBACK BEGINS_

_"But I don't understand," Kagome whimpered as her lower lip quivered. "How come Momma, Grandpa and baby brother aren't coming home?"_

_Izayoi embraced the now crying child, "Well, my dear, I . . . I'm afraid they won't be coming back. They went to be with your daddy." Her explanation only seemed to make Kagome panic more._

_"B . . . but . . . d . . . daddy's . . . in heaven, " Kagome sobbed._

_"I'm so sorry, sweetie," Izayoi said stroking Kagome's long black curls._

_"I don't -- have -- a -- family -- anymore," Kagome managed to say between sniffles. "Nobody -- wants -- me -- I -- don't -- belong . . . ," she was crying so hard she could not finish her sentence._

_"You can belong to our pack, Gome," six years old Rin piped up giving Kagome a hug. "I can be your sister; Inuyasha can be your brother. Mama and Papa can be your Mama and Papa; and, Maru can be our puppy."_

_"I am no one's puppy," Sesshomaru barked as he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head to look away from them._

_Inu put a loving firm hand on his son's head and ruffle his perfectly in place hair, "You're my pup," he smiled and winked at Sesshomaru. He walked over to Kagome and picked her up. "Rin is correct. You may be part of our pack," he kissed her forehead "we'd love to have you in our pack."_

_-- Later that night --_

_Sesshomaru tossed and turned in his bed trying to sleep. Distant intermittent sobs and sniffles and the heavy scent of tears were assaulting his senses. He knew it was Kagome. He got out of bed and went down the hall to the door of her room. He stood outside for a moment contemplating what he should do. Finally, he knocked._

_Kagome stopped sniffling so she would not wake anyone else. She stared at the opening door and saw a glowing blue light. A moment later, she saw a white dog the size of a Great Dane cautiously enter. Kagome sat up to see glowing red eyes and the markings of Sesshomaru. She cocked her head to one side and questioned him softly, "Sesshomaru?"_

_He made no sound as he easily jumped onto the bed next to Kagome. He moved his head towards her face and quickly licked the tears from her cheeks before curling up and laying down. Kagome giggled and laid back down on her side facing Sesshomaru's dog form. She pulled the covers up over her shoulders and placed her hand on his head. Sesshomaru inhaled deeply and let out a long heavy sigh. He felt her calming down as she stroked his fur. Both soon fell asleep._

_-- With Inu and Izayoi --_

_"Calm down, my love," Inu assured his mate, "I'm very positive that was Sesshomaru's aura." They both got up, put on their robes and headed down the hallway. They noticed Kagome's door open. "She's been crying," he told Izayoi. _

_Both adults peaked into her room and were greeted by glowing red eyes and a low non-threatening growl of the Inu Yokai language, "_**I've already taken care of the situation father." **

**"Well done, pup,"**_ Inu proudly growled back to his son. _

_Izayoi gently touched her mate's arm and smiled up at him, "Don't they look so adorable together?"_

_Inu smiled back to his mate, "Yes, they do." They closed the door and went back to their room._

_Sesshomaru laid his head back down -- falling asleep once more._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

SMACK!!!

Kagome was brought out of her thoughts of her tragic childhood. She saw Kagura put a hand to her burning cheek. Everyone staring at the person who slapped her.

"This is my birthday party," Rin growled at Kagura poking a finger into her chest, "You are the one who does not belong here! GET! OUT!"

Kagura opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by a menacing growl right behind her. Kagura swallowed hard trying not to indicate she was now frightened at the thought of being in the presence of more than one angry Inu Yokai.

"Kagura. Leave. Now." Sesshomaru ordered her as he gripped her arm and pulled her to the front door. He opened it, shoved her out and slammed the door in her face. He turned to see everyone in a circle around Kagome.

"Are you okay?" Sango asked quietly. Sesshomaru clenched his teeth waiting for the Kagome's tears to fall.

Staring at the floor and fighting back the tears stinging her eyes, Kagome answered "No," there was a slight pause, "We can't play pin the tail on the donkey."

"Huh?" everyone asked in unison.

"Sesshomaru just threw the jackass out the front door." Kagome said as she looked up with a mischievous grin. "Did you guys seriously think I'd let someone like that get under my skin so easily?"

Everyone busted out laughing. Sesshomaru, relieved, unclenched his teeth and let a minute smile escape.

"What's all the ruckus in there?" a jovial male voice boomed from the dining room entrance.

Rin explained, "Nothing, Dad. Kagome's just being the life of the party, as usual."

"Is that so," Inu stated. "Your mother is ready to serve the cake." He moved to the side of the dining room entrance to let the ravenous teens pile inside.

As Kagome neared Inu, he looked at the neon green string sticking to her shirt and arched an eyebrow in curiosity and asked "What happened to you?"

"Friendly fire," she stated with a smile as she passed him to sit at the table next to Inuyasha.

As Sesshomaru approached, Inu eyes twinkled as a huge smile came to his lips at the sight of the neon pink strings sticking to the back of his son's hair. "And, what happened to you?" he inquired as if he didn't already know.

Sesshomaru, assuming his normal cool, calm and collected self, passed his father and merely stated one word, "Kagome."


	3. Updated: Chapter 2 High School Drama

Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to Inuyasha.

Chapter 2 – High School Drama

Monday morning came too early for Kagome's taste. After pounding the hell out of her alarm clock, she sat up in her bed and yawned while she stretched herself awake. She got out of bed and headed straight for her bathroom to engage in her morning routine. When she was done, she walked over to the wall by her door and pushed the light switch in the on position. She happened to see something on the floor in front of the door and bent down to take it. It was a letter-sized envelope addressed to her from Sesshomaru. He had written – Didn't want you to be disappointed, please enjoy – on the front. She opened it and emptied the contents onto her bed. Kagome busted out laughing. On her bed were his high school graduation hat tassel, a tack and an 11½" by 8" picture of a Kagura's head transposed onto the body of a donkey. 'And I thought this was going to be another typical Monday,' she smiled as she hung the picture on the corkboard hanging on the wall next to her computer. She finished getting dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Took ya long enough, wench," Inuyasha greeted Kagome "What were you hootin' and hollerin' about up there?"

"Yeah, 'Gome. What's up with that?" Rin asked.

"Run up to my room and go look on my board by the computer," was all Kagome said with a big grin on her face.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and got up from the table to go to her room with Rin tagging along. A minute later all you could hear throughout the entire mansion was gut busting laughter. Smiling again, Kagome finished the last bit of her breakfast and coffee as she waited for the others to return.

Inuyasha was wiping the tears from his eyes, "Damn, I never thought my brother had one ounce of humor in his body. That is priceless."

"Are we ready to go?" Kagome asked. "Where's Rin?"

Inuyasha chuckled, "We'll go wait for her in the car. She laughed so hard she peed her panties." Kagome joined Inuyasha's chuckling as they went to his car.

After picking up Miroku, Sango and Kikyo, the teens pulled up into the student parking lot.

"There," Rin stated as she finished braiding Kagome's hair.

"Thanks, sis." Kagome said as she hugged Rin.

"Would you two wenches kindly get your asses in gear?" Inuyasha asked in an irritated voice. "We're going to be late for class."

"Since when is he worried about being late for class?" Sango asked.

"Since he found out what our assignment for 1st period is going to be," Miroku answered as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively at his girlfriend. Suddenly, he grasped the back of his head, "OW! Why did you do that, Kagome?"

"Three guesses, PERVERT – and the first two don't count," she replied walking to catch up with Sango.

Waving at friends and acquaintances, they walked towards their high school. As soon as they entered the building, they went to their lockers to gather their books for 1st period.

"See you later, Kagome," Rin said walking toward her class.

"Bye, catch you at lunch," Kagome returned as she walked with the others to one of their favorite classes – DRAMA.

Everyone walked into class and took seats at their tables just in time for the bell to ring. Their drama teacher walked in with a new student who was holding several thin booklets for Mrs. Johnson. Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other as they recognized the ruggedly handsome, black haired, blue-eyed youth and mouthed 'No way'. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Mrs. Johnson," they greeted in unison.

"We have a new transfer student from one of our rival schools. Some of you may know him from Regional Competitions. For those who don't, I would like you to give a warm welcome to Koga Okuri," the teacher introduced the senior.

"Thank you, Mrs. Johnson," Koga started, "I just wanted to say that I am glad to be here and hope to have lots of fun and to make lots of good friends." He gave a sparkling fanged smile and winked at Kagome who had slid halfway down her chair trying to hide from him.

_(AN: For all of you who have read my story and character introduction chapter, you will understand when I say that Koga is one annoying SOB. He just would not get out of my head until I put him in this story.)_

"Kagome and Inuyasha," the teacher spoke, "Please, raise your hand so Koga can sit at your table in the empty seat."

"No need, Mrs. Johnson," Koga said, "I already know them from past competitions." He headed to their table and pulled out the empty chair next to Kagome and sat down. "Hello, again, gorgeous." He said giving her a seductive smile. Kagome cringed at the sound of his voice, 'Gods, what did I do to deserve this?' she thought. She felt Inuyasha let out a growl of warning that only Koga and other demons could hear. Those said demons snickered with the exception of Koga who merely mumbled to Inuyasha, "Bring it on mutt face."

Before a fight could break out Mrs. Johnson said, "Now class. I have in my hands our final drama production we will perform on the last day school. Which I might add is only 3 weeks away." The class broke out in a loud cheer. "Alright! Enough!" Mrs. Johnson said loudly to bring her students back under control. "You may come before class, during lunch period or after school to auditions for your parts. I will pass around this notebook so that you may write down your name and the part you will attempt to make your own."

She began passing out the scripts; and, a few of the students began their moaning:

_(AN: Use your imagination and figure out who is speaking.)_

"Aw, man."

"Alright! Kissing!"

"This is so freshman level."

"Part of Romeo--me. Cake."

"You have got to be freaking kidding me."

"Keh."

After drama class was over, the gang went to their other classes. Three boring hours went by before the bell for 1st lunch rang. Kagome met up with Rin, Sango, Miroku and a persistent Koga and asked, "Where's Inuyasha?"

"He got permission to take Kikyo to lunch off campus," Miroku answered.

"Oh, that's right. Three month anniversary," Rin said.

"Wonderful," Kagome said sarcastically as she glanced at Koga. She had hoped Inuyasha would sit between her and Koga. 'Man, I must have done something to really piss off the gods. I have a feeling something really bad is going to happen today,' she was deep in thought when Rin interrupted her.

"Hey, potty break," Rin smiled at Kagome. This usually meant that she wanted to tell something to Kagome in private.

"Okay," Kagome smiled back, "I'll be there in a sec." She turned to Miroku, "Here's some cash. Please buy Rin's lunch when you get yours."

"But why does it have to be me?" Miroku whined.

"So I don't drop my food again on accident because something just happens to brush up against my rear end," Sango replied.

Kagome turned to leave but was blocked by a hopeful looking Koga, "Alright already. You may buy me lunch." She walked passed him toward the girls' bathroom down the hall.

"Score!" Koga exclaimed as he got in line to buy lunch.

When Kagome reached the girls' bathroom door, she heard the loud crash of breaking glass. She shoved the door open to see Rin being held to the floor by two senior girls she recognized as being part of Kagura's entourage their freshman year. "Yura! Abi!" She yelled as she ran toward them plowing into Yura knocking her off balance enough for Rin to get free from her. Rin reached out with her claws and slashed the side of Abi's face. Kagome saw that she was free and yelled, "Rin, go get a teacher!" Rin was gone in a flash. "What in the hell are you two doing?" Kagome demanded.

"They are doing what I tell them to do," a voice said from behind her sending shivers down Kagome's spine. Just then Yura and Abi grabbed Kagome and pushed her into a kneeling position on the floor.

"Kagura," Kagome whispered as the older demoness appeared from the corner behind the door. "How the hell did you get in here? You don't even go to school any more."

"I come and go as I please," Kagura stated slightly irritated by Kagome's intrusion, "My brother practically owns this school with all the palms he has greased with our money over the years."

"So, that doesn't mean you can come in here and assault people as you please," Kagome told her, "What did Rin do to you?"

"Why, she humiliated me in front of my boyfriend because of you," Kagura said slyly. "Oh well. Since she's not here any more, you'll have to do – somebody's got to pay." She walked over to Kagome, who could not move now, and picked up her braided ponytail. "Did you get it from your classroom?" She asked Yura.

"Yes," the hair demoness replied and handed Kagura the object in question.

Kagome's eyes widened as she gasped in disbelief. Abi was laughing evilly. Kagura turned to her victim and smiled viciously as she proceeded to cut off Kagome's hair with the large razor blade Yura stole from the cosmetology classroom.

Kagome stared into space for a few seconds before she struggled against the two demonesses holding her down and screamed, "You bitch!"

Kagura bent down to get in her face and said, "Yes, I am; and, I will be Sesshomaru's bitch." She was cut off from her victory speech when Kagome spat in her face. Kagura raised her hand and backhanded her in the mouth. The other two assailants let Kagome go so she would fly backwards into the wall. She landed in the sitting position against the wall. The place where her head hit was indented and spattered with Kagome's blood.

Just as Rin re-entered the restroom with a teacher, the vice principal and the principal, Kagura threw the cut ponytail into Kagome's face where it bounced off and landed in her lap, "Let that lesson be a reminder of what you are – a nobody," she hissed. The adults immediately detained the three demonesses.

"I don't know what's going on, but, I do know that it will be discussed in my office as we wait for the police," Principal Hoshiyomi declared.

By now, students started gathering around – Sango, Miroku and Koga being next to Rin. Vice Principal Koyuki asked, "Would you be so kind as to fetch the school nurse and call for an ambulance? And would the rest of you please stand back." Two more teachers arrived to help the vice principal escort the three guilty females back to the principal's office to wait for the police.

"Yes, ma'am," Sango said running down the hall to the infirmary dialing the emergency number for an ambulance at the same time. Within a few minutes, the school nurse, Kaede appeared at the restroom with Sango.

Principal Hoshiyomi told the students to go back to their classes. Kagome's friends were reluctant to comply, but Sango convinced them they needed to leave except for Rin.

"Is she going to be alright, Kaede?" Hoshiyomi asked.

"That is for the hospital to say, but, I think she'll live," the old woman replied.

"Oh, my head," Kagome groaned as she woke up.

"Stay still, Kagome," Kaede said, "You might have a bad concussion."

"Oh, Kagome," Rin cried as she picked up the cut ponytail holding it in one hand and placing her other hand on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry."

"That's what they had planned for you," Kagome smiled slightly explaining in a weak voice, "Besides it'll grow back."

"I know," Rin, said as tears rolled down her cheeks, "but mine would have grown back in a weeks time yours will take several years to get that long again."

"I was just covering your back like you did me at the party," Kagome said patting the hand on her shoulder. Kagome remembered the main reason for going to the restroom with Rin and asked her, "Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"It can wait until you get home from the hospital," Rin said as her attention turned towards the EMTs coming in with a stretcher, "I'm going to ride with you to the hospital. Sango is calling everyone to let them know what happened." She watched the EMTs work on Kagome and gently put her onto the stretcher. "I love you, big sis."

"I love you, too, little sis," Kagome whispered as she passes out again.


	4. Updated: Chapter 3 Meanwhile

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own Inuyasha.

Chapter 3 – Meanwhile . . .

-- Inuyasha and Izayoi --

Inuyasha was livid after Sango called to let him know what had happened to Kagome. He turned to Kikyo with an apologetic look on his face and explained, "Sorry, babe. I have to take you back to school and go pick up my mom to meet my family at the hospital."

"I understand. Is there anything I can do?" She asked.

"Just pray Kagome's going to be alright," he requested. "I have to call Mom and try to call Dad and Sesshomaru." As they walked back to the car, he tried to call his dad and brother but had no luck. The operator at the Western Lands Technology building would only tell him that they were in a meeting and could not be disturbed. He and Kikyo got into his truck. He had dialed Izayoi just before he stared the engine of the truck and put it into gear when she picked up on the second ring.

"What do you need . . ." Izayoi asked joking with her son who never calls her unless he wants something before he cut her greeting short.

"Mom," he said in a serious tone, "I'm coming to pick you up. Kagome got attacked at school during lunch."

"WHAT!?!" She screamed trying not to pass out at the shocking news.

"I tried calling Dad and Sessh, but the receptionist won't interrupt their meeting," Inuyasha said as he pulled up in front of the school to drop off Kikyo. She leaned over and kissed him on his cheek before exiting. As soon as she shut the door, he sped off to pick up his mom. He didn't hear anything on his mother's end of the phone. "Mom, are you alright?"

"Yes, son," she said in a shaky voice. He knew she was on the verge of crying. "I'll get through to your father. Where's Kagome?"

"Rin told Sango they were taking her to Shikon General," he said. "I'm almost home Mom."

"I'll be waiting outside," she told Inuyasha and disconnected the phone call. She immediately dialed her husband's private office number.

--Western Lands Technologies Executive Conference Room --

". . . not only will our merger increase employee moral and production, it will increase the profit margin for the next quarter as well," Sesshomaru explained the projections for the pending company merger. The lights were turned on revealing the pleased faces of several men in business suits. Among those faces was Naraku who was nodding in approval of Sesshomaru's presentation. "So, are there any questions?" Sesshomaru inquired. Just then, the conference room phone rang.

Inu gave a sheepish smile as he apologized, "Please, forgive me gentlemen. I have to get this call. My "boss" is the only one with the number, so, this means it's an emergency." All the men chuckled, knowing that by his "boss", he meant his mate.

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes at his father's comment. He felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Naraku who said, "I'm going to take this opportunity to check my phone messages." Sesshomaru nodded and Naraku stepped outside the room. Sesshomaru decoded to check his cell as well – 25 missed consecutive calls from Kagura from yesterday—he rolled his eyes. Five missed consecutive calls from Inuyasha today—he did not like the feeling that was beginning to overwhelm his instincts. 'Inuyasha never calls me without leaving a message. Something's wrong,' he deduced.

Inu picked up the receiver and answered, "Yes, dear," his tone changed when he heard her crying, "Calm down, love. What's wrong?" This caught Sesshomaru's attention and he was now focusing on his father's call so he could hear their conversation.

Izayoi tried to quiet her stressed voice, "We have to get to Shikon General. Kagome's been hurt." Both Inu's and Sesshomaru's eyes widened in shock. "Inuyasha is driving up to the house right now. We'll meet you there." With that said, she hung up the phone, got into the truck and headed to the hospital with her son.

Sesshomaru's beast whimpered at the words he heard and struggled against the short chain Sesshomaru kept on him. The information his mother supplied enforced the feeling he had. All that mattered was that he needed to be with Kagome comforting her. He took a deep breath to calm his beast telling him that panicking would not help her. His beast listened to his master, curled up and laid down impatiently flicking his tail back and forth.

Inu hung up the phone, stood up and bowed to his future business partners, "Please, forgive us gentlemen, but Sesshomaru and I must leave due to a family emergency. I'll have my assistant call you later to schedule a question and answer meeting for our merger." Sesshomaru bowed to the men as he and his father left the conference room to the parking garage. On their way there, they ran into Naraku who was in the process of leaving a message for them with Inu's secretary.

"Oh good, I can tell you in person," Naraku stated, "It seems my sister has gotten herself into a little trouble. I have to go bail her out of jail."

Sesshomaru didn't seem to be shocked by this statement. He merely told Naraku, "Doesn't surprise me. Kagome's in the hospital, and I'm fairly sure Kagura is at fault."

A forced look of sympathy flashed across his face before he said, "Then I will follow you to the hospital to check on Kagome's status if you don't mind." He added with a slight malicious smile, "I think it would be good for Kagura to stew in jail for a while and ponder her ill begotten actions."

They got into their vehicles and drove to the hospital. What Naraku had stated did not sit well with Sesshomaru, 'What are your true intentions, Naraku?' His inner beast growled at the thought of Naraku being anywhere near Kagome. 'I'm in total agreement with you,' he told his beast.


	5. Update: Chapter 4 Shikon Hosp: Day One

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 4 – Shikon Hospital: Day One

-- ER Waiting Room --

Rin did the best she could giving information about Kagome to the emergency room nurse at the patient admittance desk. She sat her head in her hands, clutching Kagome's severed pony tail and crying. Rin was using the pony tail to inhale Kagome's scent to drown out the obnoxious smells now surrounding her. She wished someone would get there soon so she would have more comforting scents around her.

Suddenly, she felt arms placing themselves around her shoulders as two familiar scents filled her nose. "It's alright, honey. Mama's here and so is Inuyasha," Izayoi comforted her sobbing daughter.

Rin looked up with her tear swollen red eyes. She looked up at Inuyasha and held up Kagome's pony tail for him to see. "T-They were gonna do this to me," she explained, "K-Kagome stopped them from hurting me." She broke down crying once again.

Inuyasha took the hair from Rin and inhaled the scents. The most prominent sent was Kagome's but the other one that stood out was "Kagura." Inuyasha growled as he squeezed the hair in anger.

Just then, Inu, Sesshomaru and Naraku arrived. Inu rushed over to his mate and daughter to assure them everything was going to be okay. Sesshomaru and Naraku were watching Inuyasha growing angrier by the second.

"**What's going on Inuyasha?**" Sesshomaru barked in Inu Yokai as he watched his brother slowly being overtaken by his full blooded demon side. His eyes widened at what he saw in Inuyasha's clawed hand. Inuyasha tossed the long pony tail at Sesshomaru.

"**Figure it out for yourself," **Inuyasha barked back as he tried to get himself under control.

Sesshomaru caught the hair and, immediately, was hit by Kagome's scent. Not just her normal scent – her blood. His eyes became tinged in pink as his anger swelled inside his heart. His eyes went totally blood red with rage as he inhaled a second sent, "**Kagura!**" He roared making the hospital windows rattle. His beast would have broken free had it not been for his father.

"**Sesshomaru! Get a hold on your beast! Now or you will have to leave and not see Kagome!" **He ordered his son as he now held him by the shoulders. With those words said, Sesshomaru calmed down. Gold slowly returned as the red seeped out of his eyes – indicating he was now in full control.

"I demand satisfaction, father." He seethed looking directly at Naraku. "Our pack's honor has been violated. What do you intend to do about it?"

Naraku looked at Sesshomaru and calmly said, "I wish to know what damage has been inflicted on Kagome; then, I will make my decision." He redirected his attention to Inu, "Will that be satisfactory?"

"Yes," Inu agreed, "We need to get the details of the situation before making hasty decisions." He looked at his son who was now rubbing a lock of Kagome's hair that had freed itself from one of the braided knots. "Agreed?"

Sesshomaru said, "Agreed," then like a child, he mumbled under his breath, "But, I still demand satisfaction to defend her honor."

Everyone directed their attention to Rin and Izayoi. They were being approached by one human and one demon wearing business type suits. "Excuse me," the demon began, "I am Detective Hiten and this is my partner Detective Koranoske. We are here to interview one Rin Taisho and one Kagome Higurashi."

Inu stepped between the detectives and his mate and daughter, "You may interview Rin in the presence of my mate and myself. Kagome on the other hand is injured somewhere in this hospital. We have yet to learn her whereabouts and we are becoming somewhat agitated with that fact."

As if by cue, a doctor appeared in the waiting room and asked, "Is the Higurashi party here?" Suddenly he was encircled by the three male Taishos. 'Oookay,' he thought. He proceeded with his introduction, "I'm Dr. Suikotsu Shichi, the on call doctor for the ER this week."

"Where's Kagome? How badly is she hurt? I want to see her, NOW!" The three Inus hurled their questions and demand at the doctor at the same time. Naraku stood quietly to side listening to the conversation.

"I understand your urgency, gentlemen," Suikotsu began, "but, one thing at a time." The Taisho males moved to form a wall between the doctor and the others – waiting to hear the doctor's diagnosis. "First, Miss Higurashi is currently being transported from the CAT Scan room to a private room on the second floor. Second, she sustained sprained wrists, bruised shoulders, a cut lip that required three stitches and a concussion on the back of her head that required 15 stitches." He watched the expressions of the three males before him slowly change from calmed to shocked.

In the background, one of the detectives was writing the information being given to him by Rin. The other detective was listening intently to the doctor – writing down everything that was said.

Dr. Shichi continued his findings, "Her x-rays and CAT scan did not reveal any life threatening injuries. She's in quite a bit of pain as you can imagine, but she will be fine. However, because she sustained a blow to the head, I would like to keep her in observation for 3 days. It is possible that the swelling of her head injury could increase -- resulting in the need for surgery to relieve the pressure. I like to make sure that those under my care are certified a-ok before I release them." The Inus changed their expressions to that of relief. Dr. Shichi was pleased to see his explanation was well received by the three males.

He glanced down at his clipboard and continued supplying the information on Kagome, "Miss Higurashi is in room 2213. As I said before, it is a private room. I like to give my head injury patients a very quiet environment in which to recover. She'll still be a little groggy and maybe a little grumpy. Because she does have a concussion, I have a nurse checking on her every 10 minutes to make sure she is coherent."

"How long must that procedure continue, doctor?" Inu inquired – feeling his eldest pup's aura changing. Sesshomaru was impatiently shifting on his legs from side to side.

The doctor looked at the now visibly anxious Sesshomaru and continued to speak, "I will allow one family member to stay with her during her stay. Said person should take over for the nurse in the waking of Miss Higurashi. You will need to do this over a 2 hour period; after that, you can let her sleep until her heart's content." With those words, Sesshomaru looked to his father, who nodded acknowledging his son's intent, and made a bee line for Kagome's room.

He left with such speed, Inuyasha's hair swished as his brother passed him. "Wow. In a hurry, much," he commented. He was worried about Kagome too, but, jeez.

The detectives went up to Inu and told him that they got the information they needed and would contact him regarding pressing charges against Kagura and the others involved with the assault. With that said, the detectives left the hospital to return to the police station to submit their report.

Inuyasha had noticed the whole time Naraku standing off to the side of everyone pretending to be invisible. His presence did not sit well at all with Inuyasha. He walked over to Naraku and asked flat out, "Why are you here?"

Naraku looked down his nose at Inuyasha and replied, "If you have to know, I merely wish to ascertain how much damage my sister inflicted on Kagome. I need to know what I need to do to keep my family's name from being tarnished. As long as I can remember, I have always been cleaning up my sister's messes. Perhaps it's time I let her face the consequences of her actions. She needs to be taught a lesson the hard way."

Inuyasha smirked and said, "Keh. It's taken you this long to figure that out." He moved closer into Naraku's personal space and whispered a threat, "This had be the only reason you are here spider boy. If you so as go anywhere near or hurt Kagome, when I'm done with you, you'll be nothing more than a bad fading memory."

As Inuyasha turned to rejoin his family, Naraku's lips spread into an evil grin. He knew exactly to what Inuyasha was inferring. 'Ahhh. What a wonderful experience that would have been if Inuyasha had not interrupted us,' he closed his eyes and sucked in air as he bit his lower lip reliving a particular arousing memory. He opened his now lust filled eyes, took a deep breath and let it out before whispering, "You will be mine, Kagome." He regained his composure and followed the Taisho family to Kagome's room.

--- Kagome's Room –

Sesshomaru reached Kagome's room in a flash. As he started to enter her room, one of the station nurses stopped him, "Sir, I'm afraid you can't go in there right now." He slowly turned around with pink seeping into his eyes. The human nurse now understood she was dealing with an irritated demon. She looked at him with fear all over her face. Seeing her reaction to him, Sesshomaru calmed himself down.

"My apologies, nurse," he smiled as he bowed to her and continued, "I am Sesshomaru Taisho, a member of Miss Higurashi's family. Dr. Shichi gave me permission to enter so that I may help with waking Kagome every 10 minutes. Please, forgive me if I frightened you. It was not my intension."

"It's alright, Mr. Taisho," the nurse smiled at him, "You may go inside. As a matter of fact, it is time to wake her up again. If you'd like . . ." He cut off her explanation.

"Yes, thank you, nurse," he said as he went into Kagome's room.

Sesshomaru was relieved when the fresh scent of Kagome hit his nose. He winced and touched his head as his inner beast roared at the sight of her. He walked to the far side of her bed, pulled over a chair and sat down. He could hear her steady stable breathing. 'Our pack mate will be fine,' he said trying to soothe his beast as he lightly stroked Kagome's forehead. Purring contently at the physical contact with her, his beast replied, '_No. Not only pack mate . . . Mate.'_ Sesshomaru sighed as he gazed at Kagome as if he were in a trance. 'Yes,' he agreed.

He felt his beast become excited. Kagome began to stir – her eyes fluttering open. Sesshomaru greeted her with a gentle smile, "Hey, sleepyhead." He went to hold her hand and realized that he was still holding her lopped off pony tail. He laid it in his lap so that he could carefully take her hand in his. He continued stroking her forehead.

Kagome tried to stretch but stopped when she felt a little pain. She smiled, trying to hide her pain, "Hey," she weakly offered her greeting. Both she and Sesshomaru turned their attention to the rest of the family and Naraku entering the room.

"Kagome, dear, I'm so glad you're okay," Izayoi rushed to Kagome's side. She sat down on the edge of the bed and lightly hugged the young woman she considered her daughter.

Inu made his way to Kagome's side next to Izayoi, but he stayed standing. He touched his ward's cheek and said, "I know this is all overwhelming, but I need to know if you want to press charges against the demonesses who attacked you."

Kagome looked at him for a moment not believing he had just asked that question. "Hell, yeah, I want to press charges," she almost yelled. "You think I'm gonna let them get away with what they did?" The older Inu nodded and smiled at the ferocity she displayed in her weakened state. Rin and Inuyasha had taken the opportunity to move next to Sesshomaru. When they did, he smoothly passed Kagome's pony tail back to Rin so Kagome could not see it.

Kagome felt safe with her pack members present, but, when she caught sight of Naraku out of the corner of her eye, she started to feel panicky. Sesshomaru, feeling her distress, excused himself from her side, "Father, would you please come with me for a moment." He looked down at Kagome and assured her, "We'll be right back." She smiled back at him and said, "Okay."

Inu followed his son as they walked to Naraku. The three demons stepped outside the room. When the door was shut, Sesshomaru stated what he had stated before looking directly at Naraku, "I demand satisfaction, Naraku." He looked at his father and said, "We will press charges against the other two involved in this incident, but I want Kagura. This way, your family honor will no longer be tarnished, Naraku." The three remained silent for a moment before Naraku replied.

"I'll have Kagura delivered to you by the week's end, Sesshomaru," Naraku said bowing to Sesshomaru and Inu, "I wouldn't want any hard feelings with our companies' merger almost complete."

"Thank you," Inu replied. Sesshomaru remained silent. Naraku bowed once more and left. The two Inus went back into Kagome's room with pleasant smiles on their faces.

When they re-entered the room, Kagome was already asleep. Inu spoke to his family, "Well, this has been an exciting day. I think we should go home and discuss a few things regarding Kagome's assault." He saw Sesshomaru moving back to his previous position and knew that his son would not leave Kagome's side tonight, "Sesshomaru will be staying with her tonight."

With that, each pack member kissed Kagome on the forehead and left the room to go home. With the exception of Sesshomaru, who sat down and picked up where he left off – lightly stroking her forehead, holding her hand and purring contently.


	6. Update: Chapter 5 Shikon Hosp: Good News

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Inuyasha.

Chapter 5 – Shikon Hospital – Good News

-- Late Monday Night --

Kagome woke sometime in the middle of the night. Her stomach had decided to rumble her awake. She tried to sit up but could not. She frowned until she saw a sleeping Sesshomaru's head lying on her stomach. She smiled and placed her hand on top of his silver-locked head. She began gently stroking his hair and that's when her stomach restarted rumbling. Realizing that it was Sesshomaru growling in his sleep due to a dream he was experiencing, she giggled. The soft quick recurring motion of her stomach moving snapped Sesshomaru awake. He relaxed as he felt Kagome "petting" him.

"What's so funny?" He inquired as he lifted his head.

"You are, silly. I can't believe you used my stomach for a pillow. Thank god you didn't drool on me," she said lifting her hand from his head quickly changing the subject, "I'm hungry. I need food. Now be a good Inu and go fetch me something to eat."

Her words caught his beast's attention. Wagging his tail he told his master, '_Mate wishes us to hunt for food.'_ 'She is not yet our mate,' Sesshomaru told his beast, 'but soon she will be, I promise.' He smiled at Kagome and said, "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

"Wearing this thing? I don't think so," she replied referring to the hospital gown she wore.

"I'll let the on call nurse know you are awake," he said leaving the room.

A few minutes later a nurse came in to take her vitals and draw some blood. "Is there anything I can do for you Miss Higurashi?" The nurse asked.

"Yeah," Kagome smiled sheepishly, "I really need to go pee." The nurse chuckled and helped her to the bathroom and handed her a specimen cup. Kagome rolled her eyes and took the cup and shut the door. She gave a sigh of relief, "Man, I really had to go." After she finished, she washed her hands and headed back to her bed. The nurse took the filled cup from the girl and helped her get back into the bed.

"You have a very loving boyfriend. The way he made it clear he was staying with you, and, just now, when he went to get you something to eat. He "ordered" us to make sure you were not left alone while he was gone," the nurse commented as she put all the samples she took from Kagome into her kit.

"Who? Oh, you mean Sesshomaru," Kagome explained, "He's not my boyfriend. He's more like a guard dog. I can't hold onto a boyfriend whenever he's around; he runs them off before I can get a steady healthy relationship going."

"You sure could have fooled me," the nurse replied, "Trust me. I'm married to a wonderful demon and believe me when I tell you he gets over protective when I get hurt or get sick. He's also very jealous when other males look at me." The nurse winked and smiled at Kagome and continued her observation, "You have a very devoted demon on your hands."

Kagome quieted down and reflected on what the nurse had told her, 'Could Sesshomaru have run off my boyfriends because he saw them as his challengers for winning my heart? All this time I thought he just didn't want me to be happy.' Kagome began to ponder about all those times.

_FLASHBACK BEGINS_

"_This is a freaking one demon ran conspiracy!" Kagome thought out loud. She was convinced that Sesshomaru was out to make her life miserable. She had turned 16 six months ago and Inu and Izayoi told her that she could have a boyfriend only if he and she would be responsible. Since then, Kagome had gone through three boyfriends -- courtesy of Sesshomaru. _

_-- Boyfriend #1 --_

_Her first boyfriend was Hitomi Kazewaki. Kagome sighed as she reminisced. He was handsome and looked a lot like Naraku except he had brown eyes. He came from a fairly rich family and was very respectful towards Kagome and her guardians. He was the captain of the sophomore debate team and destined to become a great politician. When they went on dates, Sesshomaru took it upon himself to be the chaperone. Kagome was happy for about two months before "IT" happened. _

_The three of them were going to see a movie. Hitomi chose a comedy because he told Kagome that he loved her laughter. Tickets were purchased by Hitomi, as were the movie staples of cola and popcorn. As they made their way to their theater, Hitomi placed a hand inside the back pocket of her jeans as he ushered her inside. Unnoticed by the happy couple, Sesshomaru glared at the boy while growling so low only demons could hear. Several weaker demons in the theater practically jumped out of their skin at the sound. That was the moment Sesshomaru decided Kagome would no longer date this boy. Just as Kagome sat down, Sesshomaru pushed past Hitomi to sit next to Kagome – purposefully separating the two. Needless to say, the overly protective Inu was the only one of the three enjoying the movie. _

_The following school day a smirking Sesshomaru watched from afar as Hitomi broke up with Kagome telling her that it was no longer in his best interest to date her. Kagome felt her whole world collapsing around her and began to cry. Izayoi came and took Kagome home for the rest of the day._

_-- Boyfriend #2 –_

_The second boyfriend was a handsome, rich demon named Byakuya Mugen. He was a junior and president of the photography club. Kagome literally bumped into him on her way to the drama club two weeks after her "break up" with Hitomi. Byakuya commented on Kagome's beauty and told her that he would like to take some photos of her. Kagome declined because he was one year older than she. For five days straight, Kagome would find origami flowers in her locker with poetic declarations of love attached to them begging her to be his muse-girlfriend. Finally, she caved and was happy once again. For two weeks, he carried her books to and from class and purchased her lunches. It was her decision not to carry on their relationship outside school until she felt Sesshomaru would not interfere. Little did they know that Sesshomaru had spies everywhere watching their every move._

_She finally invited him to the mansion to meet her family and to take photos in her beloved flower garden one Saturday afternoon. Everyone was at the mansion when Byakuya came over except Sesshomaru. He had attended a party at Naraku's home and spent the night. When he did arrive home, he did not like what he saw. Byakuya was embracing Kagome. He knew this demon's reputation and was not about to let him humiliate his Kagome. He immediately wedged himself between her and Byakuya. He didn't even have to growl. He just stared at the stunned demon who knew he had been found out and thought it would be wise to turn tail and haul ass out the door._

_Sesshomaru watched through narrowed eyes as Byakuya left. He did not understand why Inuyasha had not sent the lecherous demon packing. Satisfied with the results of his actions, he turned to Kagome and was shocked when he felt her slap his face with all she had --leaving a red hand imprint on his left cheek. Not waiting for him to explain himself, she ran upstairs to her room with tears streaming down her face._

_-- Boyfriend # 3 –_

_The last boyfriend was from a middle class human family and fairly good looking. Unfortunately for Kagome, her romantic relationship with boyfriend number 3 was the shortest. His name was Akitoki Hojo. Just like her second boyfriend, Akitoki was a junior. He was in the drama club with Kagome. After all the rumors he heard about the way Kagome's family, mainly Sesshomaru, scrutinized her boyfriends, it took him a while to work up the courage to ask her out. He suggested that the drama club go to the Sunday matinee as a group and then to get something to eat. Kagome praised the idea fully knowing that Inuyasha would go because Kikyo wanted to go. 'There's no way Sesshomaru can ruin my blooming love life this time,' Kagome thought to herself._

_Oh boy was she wrong. After the "group date", Kagome allowed Akitoki drive her home. Little did she know that Sesshomaru was waiting for her to arrive with her new suitor. Akitoki walked her to the front door where they stood face to face for a moment holding hands and whispering words of adoration to each other. Just as he leaned down to kiss her, a red-eyed growling Sesshomaru yanked open the front door, grabbed Akitoki by the collar of his shirt and dragged him down the driveway to his car. Sesshomaru folded his arms and watched the petrified boy speed away from the enraged yokai._

_Satisfied that he had driven off another inferior suitor once again, Sesshomaru strode triumphantly back to a steaming Kagome. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" She screamed at him as she slapped him. He was taken aback with her reaction. His beast did not understand her behavior. He reached out to touch her arm, but his hand was slapped away. "Leave me alone," she yelled as she ran into the mansion and up the stairs, her tears fully flowing down her face. She stopped at the top of the stairs long enough to drive biting words into his heart, "I HATE YOU!" Her words reverberated in his head causing his inner beast to tuck his tail between his legs and curl up in a ball of shame. Although he never meant to, he had hurt Kagome. He never knew how bad it felt like to be rejected. From that moment on, he decided it would be best to avoid Kagome until she approached him or until he thought of some way to apologize to her and win back her affection._

_FLASHBACK ENDS_

Kagome's jaw dropped as she realized Sesshomaru was only trying to assert himself as the only suitor worthy to be her mate. She almost started to cry. She had treated him so unfairly. "I am such a dumb ass," she thought out loud.

The nurse looked at her in confusion, "Excuse me?"

"You're absolutely right," Kagome said as she stared back at her nurse realizing that everything she had told Kagome was true.

"Glad I could help," the nurse replied as Sesshomaru came back in carrying a WacDonald's bag. She leaned over to touch Kagome's arm and whispered, "Good luck," as she left the young woman and her demon alone.

Sesshomaru pulled the table tray over to Kagome and placed the bag of food on it. He smiled proudly as he brought out each food item and said, "One double meat cheeseburger with everything, french fries and a chocolate milk shake." He brought out the same for himself except he had a vanilla shake. He looked up at Kagome who was on the verge of crying. "What's wrong? Did I get the wrong thing?" He asked with a mortified look on his face.

"No." she stated looking down at her folded hands. "That's the thing, Sesshomaru, you always know what to get me to make me happy and you're always there for me," Kagome said and then looked up at him with an apologetic expression, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" He asked looking at her with concerned eyes as he covered her hands with his.

"For saying 'I hate you' when all you were doing was trying to protect me," she started. She took one of her hands and placed it softly on his cheek. He closed his eyes and began nuzzling into her hand. She bit her lower lip before declaring, "Sesshomaru, I love you."

Sesshomaru opened his eyes and smiled at her. In his mind's eye, Sesshomaru saw beast jumping around and tossing his head about like a puppy happy to see its master come home after a long absence. He raised one of his hands to her cheek and gently pulled her to him so their foreheads rested against each other and whispered, "And I have always loved you, Kagome." He leaned in closer with his eyes half shut. His lips were hovering just above hers when a noise caught his attention.

Grriiick! Kagome, with the anime drop of sweat on her forehead, smiled wearily and blushed as she looked down at her stomach. "That's embarrassing," she said.

Sesshomaru chuckled and dropped a quick kiss on her lips, "Guess we better feed your beast before it decides to go into a feeding frenzy? I certainly don't want to get between it and its food."

She forgot about her wrists being sprained and hit him on the arm with a balled fist, "Owie! I forgot," she hissed in pain and drew back her hand gingerly rubbing her wrist.

Sesshomaru took her injured hand into one of his and raised it to his lips to kiss it. With the other hand he grabbed a few fries and brought them to her mouth, "Looks like I'll have to feed you." He got a few of his fries to eat and then gave more to Kagome.

Kagome became impatient with the pace at which he was feeding her. "No offense," she told him, "but I am starving." She grabbed her cheeseburger unwrapped it and began to wolf it down not caring if little globs of catsup and mustard were dripping onto her chin. She would wince every once in a while as the salty food came in contact with her split lip.

Sesshomaru kept his slower pace of eating as he watched her eat. He loved watching her eat like this. She alternated between the cheeseburger and fries occasionally taking a big slurp of her milkshake. He noticted how she was trying to ignore the pain of the wound on her lip as she ate. He stopped eating momentarily as if he were in a trance. The corners of his mouth pulled up slightly as his beast flashed an image of a very pregnant Kagome devouring her food to nourish herself and their pup. 'Wait,' he thought 'our pup?' His sly beast seized the opportunity to influence his master, '_Ask her now,' _it told him in a hypnotic whisper. He quickly shook his head to clear it of the thoughts and images of his beast.

Kagome finished her food and picked up a napkin to wipe her chin. She then put the straw of her shake into her mouth to suck up some of the frozen chocolaty goodness. She saw Sesshomaru staring oddly at her. Waving her hand in front of his face she said, "Earth to Sesshomaru." She saw him shake his head a bit. "Are you okay?" She asked with deep concern in her voice as she pushed the table tray away from her.

He placed his unfinished meal on the nightstand next to his chair. He turned to her with a dreamy expression in his eyes, "Kagome," he said softly as he looked directly into her eyes, "Will you be my mate?"

She took another sip of her shake just as he asked her the question. She nearly choked and almost dropped her milkshake in her lap but recovered quickly. "Say what?!" She exclaimed in disbelief of his words.

His expression changed to one of worry and he rephrased his question, "Don't you want to be my mate?"

Kagome was at a loss for words. She never really knew where she belonged in the world, yet, he was Sesshomaru asking her to be by his side forever as his mate. She felt tears welling in her eyes and she began to hyperventilate. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she declared, "Yes, Sesshomaru. Yes to both questions."

He took the shake from her hands and put it on the tray so he could embrace her. He tightened the embrace when he felt her shaking from her crying. For the first time in his life, he was happy she was crying because her tears were tears of joy. "I will never allow any harm to come to you as long as we both shall live," he promised her while he nuzzled into the side of her neck and kissed it. He led a trail of tender kisses up the side of her neck to her jaw line eventually making his way to her lips. As their lips touched, the tip of his tongue touched her lips coaxing her to allow the appendage entry. Kagome gave a soft moan parting her lips slightly to give his tongue access to what it was seeking. He gently caressed her tongue with his causing her to moan again. Suddenly, her scent hit his nose. She was seriously aroused. As much as he wanted to continue down the path he had led them, he decided to break the kiss, "Mmmm. Chocolaty," he said as he licked his lips.

He gently brushed the pad of his thumb over her split lip. "Do you trust me?" He asked. She nodded. He took a clawed finger and gingerly sliced the three stitches holding the split flesh together. She let out a hiss of pain as he began slowly pulling out the stitches. Her blood started oozing from the wound and traveling down her chin. Sesshomaru leaned down and used his tongue to catch the blood about to drop from her chin. With one long lick, he cleaned up the trail of blood leading to her lip. Once there he slowly licked the open wound before barely suckling her lip.

Kagome pressed her lips into his trying to re-engage the arousing kiss from earlier. He smiled against her lips and pulled back leaving her with her eyes closed and lips still puckered waiting for him to return his lips. She cracked open one eye and stared at him, "No fair," Kagome complained, "I was just getting started, Meanie." She tried to pull him back into the kiss, but he sat back in his chair.

He gently picked up one of her hands stroking her palm and seductively said, "As much as I would like to continue, I must make sure my mate-to-be is fully healed so she will be able to withstand all the 'loving attention' I will bestow upon her when we physically consummate our status as mates. For now you will have to be satisfied that my saliva has healed your beautiful lip." Kagome blushed at his words of innuendo. Sesshomaru suddenly changed the arousing subject "We have to break our good news to the pack."

"I think you should tell your dad," she suggested, "I would like to be the one to tell your mom that is if you don't mind." Sesshomaru nodded in agreement.

"That's an excellent idea," he said looking at his watch, "however, I think we should get some sleep." Kagome looked at him and stuck out her lip in a pout. He raised his eyebrow and instructed her, "Don't give me that look. Sleeping excels the healing process. I am your Alpha and I am ordering my Bitch to lie down, close her eyes and go to sleep."

Kagome stared at him wide-eyed with her mouth open to protest but decided against it when she remembered Kagura's words. She scooted down in the bed to lie on her back. As he pulled the covers up over her, she told him in a quiet voice, "Kagura told me that she was going to be your bitch."

He thought about what he was going to do to Kagura, 'Yes, she will be my bitch, but in a different manner.' He leaned down to touch Kagome's lips with his. Smiling seductively as he pulled back, he asked, "Hn, is that so?" He placed his lips next to her ear, his hot breath caressing her skin as he huskily whispered, "Well, who's my Bitch, now?"

He pulled back to stare at her with hungry eyes. Kagome looked at him coyly from under her long thick dark eyelashes, bit her lower lip and shyly replied, "I am." She smiled and closed her eyes trying to fall asleep.

"And don't forget it," he told her. He was satisfied to see that she was going to be an obedient bitch and listen to her alpha male. He sat back down in his chair and watched her until sleep overcame him.

-- Tuesday Morning --

The two lovebirds had been cooing words of affection to each other for over an hour when Izayoi showed up to relieve Sesshomaru around 8:00 am. Sesshomaru got up to take the overnight bag from his mother and put it in the small closet in the corner of the room. She had brought Kagome her pajamas, another change of clothes and everything else the girl needed to make herself feel decent again. He reluctantly gave in to her insistence that the two females needed to be alone for some "girl talk". Izayoi was pleasingly shocked when Sesshomaru leaned down and laid a light kiss on the lips of a blushing Kagome. He smiled at his mother's expression and kissed her on her forehead before walking out the door to go get ready for work. Izayoi stared after him until he disappeared and then abruptly turned to interrogate Kagome, "What was that?"

"What was what?" Kagome asked innocently as she avoided eye contact with her female guardian who was now seated in the chair next to her bed impatiently drumming fingers on one arm of the chair.

Izayoi's eyes narrowed and a mischievous smile appeared on her face as she stared at Kagome and accused, "You know what I'm talking about."

"Oh. That," Kagome said as she blushed at the thought of the kiss she had received. "Well," she began her confession to her inquisitor, "Sesshomaru and I have buried the hatchet regarding the way he treated me back when I was first allowed to have a boyfriend." Kagome hesitated in her explanation.

"And?" Izayoi raised one eyebrow as she continued to try to pump information out of the poor girl.

Kagome growled in frustration. She knew Izayoi would not leave the subject be until she got the answer she was wanted. "A-and," she stuttered, "Before I tell you, you have to promise not to say anything to anybody before Sesshomaru has a chance to talk to Papa Inu."

Izayoi took a finger and made a cross over her heart and then raised her hand, "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Kagome took a deep breath and blurted out her answer, "SesshomaruaskedmetobehismateandIsaidyes."

Izayoi blinked her eyes and shook her head in a double take, "Did you just say, 'Sesshomaru asked me to be his mate and I said yes'?"

Kagome nodded her head not knowing what else to say. Izayoi grabbed the pitcher of water and a cup from the nightstand and poured herself some water as she said, "I think I'm going to faint."

Just then Dr. Shichi came in with a nurse, "Well it's a good think I showed up. How are you this morning, Miss Higurashi?"

"I have a dull headache and I'm sore. Other than that, I feel fine. So fine in fact I could maybe leave today?" Kagome gave the doctor a self diagnostic with a big smile. He pulled a little flashlight out of his coat pocket and shined it in her eyes to watch her pupils constrict and dilate. Meanwhile, the nurse took her blood pressure and checked her temperature.

"I'm not going to make any promises," he replied. Kagome gave him a look of disappointment. He turned to Izayoi and commented, "Apparently, Kagome did well last night according to the nurse on the night shift. After Dr. Jinenji comes in to treat her sprained wrists and other pains, she should be able to go home this afternoon."

"Who is he doctor?" Izayoi asked.

"He is a hanyou doctor who is a wizard when it comes to herbal medicine," Dr. Shichi told them, "He has an herbal wrap that will heal Kagome's sprains in only a few hours." He turned to Kagome who was trying to do an "I'm getting out of here" dance in her bed, "Then well see about discharging you today. I have to get back to my rounds, good morning, ladies." He and his nurse headed out the door.

Kagome hollered, "You're my hero, Dr. Shichi." He waved his hand in the air and vanished as the door closed. She sighed, turned to Izayoi and stated, "I need to take a shower to get rid of the nasty funky feeling of Kagura and her cronies off my body."

"Alright, dear, I'll help you," Izayoi offered.

"That's okay. I feel really good today. I know I can take a shower by myself," Kagome replied gathering her pajamas, toiletries, a rag and a towel. On her short trip to the bathroom, a stray thought crossed her mind and she smiled, 'But it would be a lot more fun if Sesshomaru were to help me.' She disappeared into the cramped bathroom for about 20 minutes.

Izayoi was setting up the breakfast that was delivered to the room when fully refreshed Kagome exited the bathroom. She looked at the box of ham and cheese filled croissants and chocolate covered donuts with sprinkles. A bouquet with a dozen red roses attached to the leash of a large, white, plushy stuffed dog holding a heart in its mouth. "What is all of this?" She asked in disbelief.

"I believe my son is making sure you know how much he is devoted to you," Izayoi said smiling at the awe stricken girl.

Just then they heard a knock at the door. A tall heavy-set doctor walked in with a nurse, "Good morning, I am Dr. Jinenji."

"Good morning, doctor," Izayoi and Kagome said together.

"Are you ready for me to fix those wrists for you Miss Higurashi?" He inquired.

"Damn skippy," she exclaimed.

"Kagome." Izayoi said in a disapproving tone.

"It's alright. The young lady seems very excited," the doctor stated. "My, my, someone has a devoted admirer." He commented noticing all of the gifts strewn about the room.

"My boyfriend," Kagome blushed as she said the words.

"Well, then. Let's get started. If you would sit down on the bed, the procedure will only take about 30 minutes," he explained.

His nurse pulled out the supplies and medicines he had requested handing them to the doctor. He worked quickly but gently applying an herbal ointment to her wrists and wrapping them.

While the doctor worked on Kagome, Izayoi had received a text message from Inu. She smiled widely as she read the message.

'Did Kags tell u? Pup just told me but asked not 2 talk. Cant help it. I m so xcited.'

(Translation: Did Kagome tell you? Sesshomaru asked me not to tell anyone. I can't help it. I'm so excited)

She text messaged him back, 'Me 2. Cant wait 4 grand pups.' (Translation: Me too. I can't wait for grand pups.')

Inu texts back, 'Oops. Got2go. Pup ?ing my txting.'

(Translation: Oops. Got to go. Sesshomaru is asking me what I'm doing.)

_(AN: Sorry, I'm text messaging challenged.)_

Izayoi giggled at her mate's text messaging antics.

"What are you doing?" Kagome asked Izayoi as she eyed her "mom" text messaging on her phone.

"Nothing," she replied with an innocent tone in her voice.

Dr. Jinenji and his nurse began eating the food Kagome had offered them as they waited for the medicine to do its job. The two were enjoying the banter between the two women. As 30 minutes expired, the doctor removed the wraps from Kagome's wrists and asked, "How do they feel now?"

Kagome moved her wrists from side to side smiling, "I can't believe it. They feel like nothing ever happened to them."

"Good," he said, "I am giving you a prescription for the same healing ointment only a lower dosage to rub on your shoulders when you feel the need." He handed the piece of paper to Kagome.

As he and the nurse walked to the door, he added, "I will advise Dr. Shichi that I have released you from your minor injuries. He should return sometime after 11 am."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Jinenji," Izayoi said watching the door close. She turned to Kagome to say, "Things are looking up, my dear. You're almost home free."

The two women sat on either side of the bed and began to eat the breakfast Sesshomaru had sent Kagome and watched T.V. until it was time for Dr. Shichi to arrive.

-- 11 AM –

Dr. Shichi arrived at 11 am on the dot. He had his nurse push in a wheel chair for Kagome. "I received Dr. Jinenji's message and I just want to run one more CAT Scan before I decide to sign your release papers."

Kagome bounced off the bed and plopped down in the seat of the wheelchair, "Let's do it," she said enthusiastically, "I can't wait to get out of here. No offense, but I do love my freedom."

The doctor laughed and said, "Well then, let's not waste any time." The nurse turned the chair around and wheeled her out the door to the CAT Scan room. Izayoi followed. Before they knew it, the scan was complete and they were headed back to her room. Now all they had to do was to wait for the doctor to interpret the results of the scan.

Izayoi took a moment to stare at Kagome. She was amazed at how resilient the young woman was considering everything that had happened to her. She reached her hand out to touch Kagome's short hair and said, "You, Rin and I need to make a trip to Jakotsu's Day Spa."

For the first time since the incident at school, Kagome reached up to touch her hair. She had a thoughtful sad expression on her face, "Mom, do you think I've brought any embarrassment to the pack by having my hair chopped off?"

"Absolutely not!" Izayoi exclaimed as she put an arm around Kagome's shoulders. "You brought great honor to our pack by showing you could protect your pack mate, your little sister, from being attacked by the enemy. Just because they did what they thought would humiliate you the most does not mean you have shamed your pack. It only demonstrates what weaklings they are for engaging in bullying tactics."

Suddenly, Kagome smiled brightly, "I guess I should really thank Kagura. Looking at the bright side of what happened, I won't be hot this summer," she said. Her words elicited a soft laugh from Izayoi.

Once again a knock came from the other side of the door. Kagome crossed her fingers hoping to see Dr. Shichi arriving with good news. Indeed it was the doctor. He carried papers in one of his hands and began to talk, "You will be pleased to know that the scan showed no swelling or other abnormalities in your head, Miss Higurashi. I feel confident that you do not need to stay another day. You are free to check out as soon as you want."

"Awesome!" Kagome cheered and wrapped her arms around the doctor in a hug. She released him and ran to the closet to grab her street clothes. As quick as a flash of lightening, she disappeared into the bathroom to change.

Dr. Shichi handed papers to Izayoi, "I guess you can sign these. If Kagome should experience anymore headaches, it will be fine to give her the correct dosage of ibuprofen. However, if she has any dizzy spells, complains of nausea or has extremely painful prolonged headaches bring her back here immediately."

"Yes, doctor," Izayoi replied, "Thank you so much for everything."

"It was my pleasure," he stated as he left the room.

Izayoi busied herself by gathering all of Kagome's belongings together and cleaning up the mess from breakfast. When Kagome came out of the bathroom, she put her pajamas in her overnight bag.

Izayoi picked up the stuffed toy and roses and thrust them into Kagome's arms, "Here. You take this and I'll get your bags" she said. As they left the room, she added "We have to stop by the checkout desk and pharmacy and then, we'll be on our way home." Kagome hugged the stuffed toy and followed Izayoi down the hall to the checkout station. Once there, Kagome signed the appropriate papers for her release. Then, they headed to the pharmacy – the last leg of her journey to freedom.

After a short wait for her prescription, they headed for the front doors of the hospital. _(AN: A short wait at a hospital pharmacy? I know I'm living in a fantasy world.)_

As soon as Kagome walked outside into the fresh air she cried out "FREEDOM!" Izayoi rolled her eyes and chuckled when Kagome asked, "Now, what's for lunch?"


	7. Chapter 6 Plans, Lunch and Other Things

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Inuyasha.

AN: **WARNING!** This chapter contains material of a mature nature—Rated M. Sorry if Naraku's behavior freaks out anyone, but, he is being portrayed as a sex-crazed, psycho, obsessed with Kagome stalker in this story. Please do not read the last two paragraphs if you are offended by or are not mature enough to read citrus filled material.

Chapter 6 – Plans, Lunch and Other Things

Western Lands Technologies Building

**9 AM**

With his personal assistant out for today, the Taisho Patriarch sat at the absent employee's desk going through emails when he noticed his son heading to his office to start work. 'Sesshomaru seems to have a spring in his step this morning,' he mentally commented. '_Pup is happy and playful,'_ Inu's beast said. He smiled and got up to see what was going on with his son. He knocked on the door frame of Sesshomaru's office, "Good morning son."

"Yes, father," Sesshomaru agreed, "It is very good indeed."

Inu hesitated for a moment before he rushed in Sesshomaru's office, pulled a chair up to his desk and sat down. He leaned forward, placed his elbows on the desk and propped his chin atop his laced fingers. "Alright, spill it," he demanded.

Amused, Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow and asked, "Spill what?" Meanwhile, he had turned on his computer and was searching for a certain website.

"You know exactly what I am talking about, Pup," Inu accused his son watching him click the computer mouse and type numbers on the keyboard.

Sesshomaru smiled as he clicked the send icon on the screen, momentarily ignoring his father. Satisfied that he had made his father wait for his answer he stated nonchalantly, "I asked Kagome to be my mate; and, she said yes."

Inu's eyes grew as big as saucers as a huge goofy grin appeared on his face, "YES!" He shouted, "I'm finally getting grand pups. I have to tell your mother."

"No father," Sesshomaru said, "Kagome wants to tell her. I must ask you not to say a word of this to anyone until we are ready to announce it."

"Oh, alright," the elder disappointed Inu Yokai reluctantly said.

"Now, if you don't mind," Sesshomaru began as he got up. He continued with a play-by-play for his father as he walked toward a door in the back of his office, "I am going to get on my elevator, ride it up to my penthouse, take a quick shower, change my clothes and come back down for our 11 o'clock with Naraku." He waved goodbye to his father as the elevator doors closed.

"That was truly scary," Inu thought out loud about his son's behavior, "He was almost acting like me." With that final thought, Inu headed back to his office.

**10:45 AM**

Feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world, Sesshomaru exited the elevator. He went to his desk, picked up the phone and paged his father's office only to receive a busy signal. Sesshomaru sighed as he hung up the phone. His father had activated the "Do Not Disturb" button again. The younger Inu was not happy that he had to walk to his father's office to summon him for the meeting.

Sesshomaru arrived at his father's office and was perplexed at what he was witnessing. His father was looking at something in his lap and periodically giggling like a little school girl, "Father." He saw Inu jump and nearly drop the object in his hand as if he were startled by the sound of his son's voice.

"What are you doing?" He interrogated his father as he quickly walked towards him.

Inu looked like a black cat caught with the yellow canary feathers hanging out of his mouth. He quickly pressed some more buttons on his phone before answering, "Nothing."

Sesshomaru looked at his father as if he did not believe him and said, "Really."

Grinning widely, Inu changed the subject, "Is Naraku here yet? We should get down to your office." With that said, the two demons headed back to Sesshomaru's office to wait for Naraku.

**11 AM **

-- Inside Sesshomaru's Office --

"Lord Taisho. Sesshomaru. I offer my sincerest apologies for the actions my sister took against your pack member Kagome," Naraku said bowing offering his respects to both the Inu Yokai. "I told Kagura that Sesshomaru wished to share something unforgettable with her at the mansion. She will be less suspicious of your invitation if she thinks she has a date with you. She will arrive Friday evening at 8:00 pm, if that is acceptable."

"Yes, it is," Sesshomaru answered immediately.

"Good," Inu interjected, "It is settled. We know this must be hard for your family, but . . ." Naraku cut off Inu's words.

"On the contrary, Lord Taisho, it is your family that is experiencing hardship at this time. As the head of the Onigumo family, I completely understand that satisfaction must be met. If my family were in the same situation, we would demand no less than you have."

As Inu offered his hand to Naraku to shake on the deal that had been made, the receptionists voice was heard from the intercom on Sesshomaru's phone, "Mr. Taisho, your wife is on line one."

Inu gave his exasperated son a sheepish grin. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and replied to the receptionist, "He'll be taking the call in his office."

"Excuse me," Inu said as he left his son's office for his own.

"So, now that we have dealt with the unpleasant issues for the day," Naraku began as he took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Sesshomaru's desk, "May I inquire about Kagome's condition this morning? Is she feeling better?"

-- Inu's Office --

Inu picked up his phone and pressed the button answering line one. In a very pleasant voice he greeted Izayoi, "Good morning, again, my beautiful mate."

"I have good news," she said in a giddy voice.

"What?" He asked as his Inu Yokai curiosity had been peaked.

"Kagome and I are coming to office for lunch today," she stated waiting for her mate to respond.

"They are letting her go today?" He asked another question.

"The doctor said that there seemed to be no signs of her condition becoming worse and it would be okay for her to leave today," she explained.

"I'll let Sesshomaru know. He's busy in a meeting with Naraku," Inu told Izayoi. "I love you and will see you two soon. Bye."

"Ditto. Bye," she replied as she cut off the connection.

Inu pressed the intercom button to connect to Sesshomaru's phone, "Sesshomaru?"

"Yes, father?" He asked looking straight at Naraku.

"Your mother and Kagome are on their way here to eat lunch with us," he told his son.

Naraku raised an eyebrow at the information he overheard. Sesshomaru's eyes widened slightly in surprise, "The doctor released Kagome early?" He inquired. "That's wonderful news, father." Sesshomaru's raised the corners of his mouth into a little smile in anticipation of seeing his mate-to-be.

Naraku took the opportunity to excuse himself from Sesshomaru's presence, claiming that he had a teleconference he could not miss. After Naraku left, Sesshomaru made his way to the penthouse elevator that also went down to the parking garage of the building.

Parking Garage

Inu arrived in the parking garage only to see his impatient son pacing back and forth and checking every car that came in to park. 'You really have it bad for her don't you son?' He thought as he smiled warmly at Sesshomaru's pacing figure.

As one particular car drove in on the far side, he saw Sesshomaru smile. Inu knew that had to be Izayoi and Kagome. When the car drove up and stopped, Sesshomaru instantly opened the rear passenger door to help out the two ladies inside. "Thank you, Myoga," Izayoi said as she stepped out taking Sesshomaru's hand. The chauffer tipped his hat acknowledging her appreciation. She kissed the crescent moon on her son's forehead as she moved out of the way to be with her mate.

Kagome slowly began to emerge from the vehicle but was quickly pulled out into Sesshomaru's waiting arms. He engulfed Kagome into a warm hug inhaling her scent before lowering his head to hers to steal a kiss. This action elicited three "awes" at the same time. "It's only been three and a half hours," Kagome giggled as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Three and one half hours too long," he told Kagome as he released her only to put an arm around her shoulders holding her to his side. As they walked away from the car, Sesshomaru kicked his foot back to nudge the door shut. Content that he now had his mate-to-be with him, Sesshomaru quickly led them to the penthouse elevator leaving the older couple behind.

"Impatient little whelp isn't he?" Inu asked as he kissed his mate and took her arm in his to walk back inside the building.

-- Inside Sesshomaru's Office --

"Wow," Kagome said as she stepped out of the elevator with Sesshomaru, "I forgot how huge your office was."

He turned and faced her resting his hands on her hips. Somehow he was turned on by her shortened hair. '_Mark as Mate now,_' the beast tried to persuade his master at the enticing sight of her swanlike neck. He leaned down to nuzzle the spot where he would mark her. Kagome felt him grin into her neck as he suggestively said, "Wait until you see the penthouse." He nipped at the site with his fangs following up with gentle lick and suckling on the soft spot alluding to what they would be doing in said penthouse.

"Look you horny dog," Kagome began to playfully scorn him, "you promised to be good until after the mating ceremony." He gave her a dejected look so she changed the subject, "Hey. I forgot to ask you. How did you do on your thesis project?"

Sesshomaru led her to his desk and sat down pulling her onto his lap. He placed her arms around his neck and laid one arm around her shoulders and his other arm across her thighs. "I don't know. The professor has a bunch of projects to grade. I'm a bit agitated that he has not graded my first."

Kagome smiled at her Inu Yokai and kissed him on his cheek "I've got just the thing for your agitation," she suggested and then quickly added, "And it's not what you're thinking." He smirked and answered her with "Hn."

She pulled herself off of his lap to retrieve the herbal ointment Dr. Jinenji had prescribed for her. Kagome presented it to him like a demonstration model, "This super duper herbal healing ointment works wonders for what ever causes strains, sprains or other things that might cause sore tight muscles." She walked over to his office door.

"Where are you going?" He asked. He chuckled at her mini-presentation, "You've almost convinced me to buy your 'snake oil'. The only thing you need to really sell it is to get yourself a 'see-a-sucker-suit'."

"I'm closing the door so I may give you a demonstration of this fine product, my good sir," Kagome said. "Now take off your shirt," she commanded him.

-- Inu's Office –

The elder Taishos strolled arm in arm into Inu's office. "Ah to be young again," Inu sighed to Izayoi referring to Sesshomaru and Kagome. She giggled and playfully punched her mate's arm.

"It's going to be so wonderful to hear the pitter patter of little feet again," Izayoi confessed as she hugged her well-built Inu.

"Well, you know," he stated, "We could always make another one ourselves." He slowly ran his hands down Izayoi's back before settling them on her shapely behind and playfully squeezing as he briefly lifted her hips forward into his. As he set her down, she swatted at him.

"Somebody's feeling frisky," she giggled. "I have to go to the powder room. When I get back, we can talk about you – what's that phrase the kids use – 'gettin' a little somethin' somethin' later tonight."

Inu wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his mate, "I'll hold you to that promise. Meanwhile I'll go get the two young love birds so we can go to lunch."

-- Outside Sesshomaru's Office --

Inu walked up to his son's closed office door and could not believe his ears.

"Oooh, yeah, Kagome, push down on me harder" Sesshomaru moaned, "Right there, that feels so good, aaaah."

"You're too big. I can't push down anymore," Kagome complained.

Inu's eyes widened in shock as he slowly started to blush from his neck to the tip of his ears.

Sesshomaru moaned in pleasure again. "Silence, my bitch, you're ruining the mood. Rub on that stuff you brought and move your hands up just a little higher," he instructed Kagome, "at the base of my head, there, mmmm. Don't be afraid to squeeze hard," he inhaled sharply and said through his teeth, "Gods, Kagome. Now, use your finger tips and massage little circles on the top of my head." He let out a groan of pleasure, "Oh gods, I'm in heaven. Now, work your way back down again."

Damn, my muscles are starting to hurt and I'm getting tired, you're as hard as steel." Kagome grunted a little out of breath, "You know, this would be much easier for me if you would lie on the floor. Then I could get on top of you to really ride out that pent up frustration of yours. When I'm done, it's your turn to do me."

Inu was feeling a bit light headed as if he were going to pass out. The elder Inu Yokai was all in favor of having grand pups, but the young couple should not be trying to create one inside Sesshomaru's office during business hours. He was startled when someone put a hand on his shoulder causing him to bump into the door.

"Come in," Sesshomaru said when he heard the noise at the door.

Inu turned to see that it was his mate that had startled him. Izayoi gave him a strange look and asked, "Inu, are you alright?"

-- Inside Sesshomaru's Office --

When she heard Sesshomaru give permission for them to enter, Izayoi opened the door and walked inside. Inu momentarily held out his hand to stop her, but put it back down relieved at what he saw. Sesshomaru had taken off his tie and shirt so Kagome could stand behind his desk chair and massage his shoulders.

"Ooo!" Izayoi cooed at the sight. "Getting one of Kagome's famous shoulder and neck massages I see. I'm next." She declared but soon changed her mind when she saw her mate looked as if his nerves were frazzled. "Maybe you need to be next, dear. You look a bit stressed."

"Did you need something father?" Sesshomaru asked.

Inu could have kicked himself in the ass for having perverted thoughts as to what his son and ward were doing behind closed doors. Trying to make a smooth recovery he nonchalantly said with a smile, "Lunch. It's time to for us to go out for lunch."

"Cool, I'm starved!" Kagome exclaimed as she patted Sesshomaru on his shoulders. "Besides, Sessh is really uptight waiting for his professor to finish grading his thesis and needs to get out of the office to relieve some stress."

"Well then," Izayoi started, "Perhaps we should walk. The restaurant is not that far and the walk will do wonders for all of us." The others nodded their heads agreeing with the Taisho matriarch. The four happy pack members left the building and made their way to Inu's favorite restaurant.

-- Across Town at Naraku's Office –

Naraku was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed while he fantasized. He squeezed his member as he was pumping it faster and faster. He imagined a moaning Kagome kneeling in front of him with her head bobbing up and down in the same rhythm he was using for his strokes. He felt himself nearing his release as he imagined the feeling of the hot little bitch's tongue sliding over his head before taking as much of his member into her mouth as she could. Sucking hard one last time as she pulled her head away from him, the suction of her lips making popping sound as the tip of his member finally sprung out of her mouth.

Now panting heavily, his eyes flew open and he quickly reached for the small trashcan next to his desk. He groaned in ecstasy and convulsed as he released his wad into the plastic lined receptacle. When he was done, he let the trash can slip out of his hand onto the floor. He breathed raggedly as he tried to relax. He watched his member soften and returned it back within the confines of his trousers. After zipping shut his fly, he pulled the cord of the earphone he was wearing and reached over to his desk and turned off of what looked like a small recording device. With an evil grin he said, "I'm fortunate Sesshomaru has yet to find the bug I planted in his office when we met for that company merger presentation. I must be sure to thank him for having Kagome cause me quite a pleasurable reaction."


	8. Chapter 7 WTF! ?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Inuyasha.

_AN: This will be another short filler chapter to let the readers know what is going on with the Inuyasha and the gang._

Chapter 7 – WTF!?

Tuesday 11:30 AM

Inuyasha and his entourage, consisting of Rin, Miroku, Sango, Kikyo and Koga, made their way down the hospital corridor to Kagome's room. They received permission to visit their sick classmate during their lunch hour. Unknown to them, Kagome and Izayoi had just left the hospital as the gang made it to the nurse's station on second floor.

Miroku thought he had died and gone to heaven. He began to salivate like a dog drooling over a fresh piece of meat. 'All these lovely nurses with their little white hats and short skirts. What a shame I can't decide whose bottom wins my hand as a prize?' He thought as he caught Sango glaring at him. Trying to avoid getting hit upside the head, he smiled and whispered to her, "Uh, Sango. Would you wear one of those outfits for me?" Her glare changed to a look of surprise.

SLAP!

Sango crossed her arms and turned away from him. Miroku put his left hand up to his left cheek gingerly rubbing her hand imprint. He raised his twitching right hand and looked at it in disbelief as he said, "Why do you always get me in trouble?"

"When will he ever learn?" Inuyasha, Rin and Kikyo asked shaking their heads slowly. Inuyasha's ears twitched with annoyance as he heard Koga's voice. He his head in the wolf demon's direction and one of his eyes began twitching.

"Say, pretty lady, my name's Koga, which room is my woman in?" He inquired, pouring on the charm by handing a red-headed candy striper a single red rose of the two dozen he had bought for Kagome.

"Kagome's not your WOMAN, ya stupid stinky wolf!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he stomped over to Koga rolling up his sleeve as if he were going to punch the wolf demon.

"My name's Ayame, I'm from the white wolf tribe," She smiled back at Koga accepting his rose. "Your friend there is right, Miss Higurashi is not your woman," she explained, "Rumor has it that her boyfriend stayed with her all night and left early this morning when an older lady came to relieve him. An hour later, all sorts of food and a big, white, plushy stuffed dog with a heart in its mouth attached to red roses by a leash were delivered to her room."

"Huh!?!" Everyone exclaimed.

"What did her boyfriend look like?" Rin asked.

"I didn't get to see him because I'm in a Co-Op class and just got here, but the other nurses described him as a tall, dreamy-looking demon with long silver hair, golden eyes, magenta stripes on his face and a blue crescent moon on his forehead," Ayame replied.

Just then the nurse who attended Kagome last night arrived hearing the last bit of the conversation. "Hi, Ayame," she said as she started pulling out charts, "I see you're talking about Miss Higurashi and her new mate-to-be. They make such a lovely couple."

"What the fuck!?!" The teens exclaimed once more in unison.

"Please keep your voices down," the nurse ordered, "this is a hospital and people are trying to heal in peace and quiet." She scanned quickly over the charts and smiled, "Well, it seems that Miss Higurashi was released thirty minutes ago."

"I don't believe it," Inuyasha said whipping out his cell phone to call his mom. He tapped his foot impatiently as the phone rang. A recording message answered saying, "The person you are trying to reach is unavailable please leave a message or hang up and dial again." He flipped his cell phone shut without leaving a message.

"Inuyasha," Rin started, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we really need to get back to school or we'll be late and get detention."

"Alright," Inuyasha said with a scowl on his face. He really wanted to know what was going on and he knew that he would have to wait until his pack returned home. "Come on guys, let's go."

"Ayame," Koga said with a fanged grin, "I am giving you these roses and asking you to be my woman."

The bewildered candy striper took the flowers and said, "But I thought Kagome was your woman?"

"I've changed my mind," He said as he handed her his cell phone number, "Call me." Koga turned around to see his classmates staring at him in confusion. "What?" He asked as he threw his hands in the air before shoving them in his pants pockets whistling as he walked to the elevator.

The others teens followed Koga. All except Miroku, who was still ogling the lovely ladies at the station counter and asking them to bear his children. Sango marched over, grabbed him by one of his ears and dragged him to the elevator, "Come on, Romeo," she commanded him through clenched jaws.

"Ah, my fair maidens," Miroku cried out in a theatrically dramatic voice, ". . . Parting is such sweet sorrow."

The elevator doors were closing when Inuyasha said, "That's Juliet's line you dumb ass," as he used his fist to put a lump on the back of his friend's head.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_AN: Hey, it's me again. Just to let the readers know this is the last chapter you will see Koga in for a while. _

_Koga: "__**Hey you promised me a part in this story**__." _

_Me: I gave you a bit part. I told you I really didn't have a need for you in this particular story. Now, if you don't mind I would like to get back to my readers. _

_Inuyasha: "__**Yeah, flea bag, you ain't wanted here.**__" _

_Me: I don't need any help from the peanut gallery._

_Inuyasha: "__**Shut up, WENCH! I'll say what I want to say."**_

_Me: Really? I'm writing this story. Would you like a bit part like Koga? _

_Koga: "__**He he. Keep it up butt nugget. It's coming."**_

_Me: To Koga--"Mumbler!"_

_Inuyasha: "__**I'd like to see you make me shut up."**_

_Me: KAGOME!_

_Inuyasha: __**"Oh, shit. Why are you being so mean to me?"**__ (Running away in shear terror)_

_Kagome: "__**SIT BOY!"**_

_Inuyasha: __**THUD**__ "__**Aaaagh!**__"_

_Me: Thank you, Kagome._

_Kagome: __**"No, no, no, thank you. I haven't done that in a while. Felt good."**_

_Me: My pleasure._

_Back to Author's Note_

_AN: Thanks for all of your reviews. Your words inspire me to write the next chapter. Speaking of the next chapter—someone's gonna get some hot tub action. ; ) Until next time—XOXO._


	9. Chapter 8 Answers and Hot Tubs

_AN: Sorry to make you wait so long for this chapter, but I've been busy babysitting for my brother and sister-in-law while they've been working. Daycare for a 9 year old is just ridiculously overpriced. I hope you are temporarily satisfied with this chapter until I can get the next one up. Enjoy_

**Chapter 8 – Answers and Hot Tubs**

Tuesday—After School

Inuyasha and Rin sat on opposite sides of the couch in the living room waiting for their parents and brother and soon to be sister-in-law to arrive. Both brother and sister impatiently jiggled a foot up and down will drumming clawed fingers on the arm rest next to them. Miroku and Sango sat between them, Miroku sitting next to Inuyasha and Sango sitting next to Rin. They had their hands clasped in their laps while twiddling their thumbs. The four teens turned their heads to the front door that was now opening revealing the four people for whom they were waiting.

"It's about damned time," Inuyasha swore.

"We've been waiting for you for three hours," Rin scolded them, "Where have you been?"

Miroku and Sango merely smiled and waved at the new arrivals.

"Don't get your panties in a wad, Inuyasha," Kagome told the irritated hanyou.

"And WHO do YOU think YOU are questioning US, young lady?" Izayoi asked shaking an admonishing finger at Rin.

Inu put his hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder and whispered out of the side of his mouth, "Now you're going to truly learn the meaning of having your hands full, my pup." He nodded in the direction of the two spirited females in front of them.

Sesshomaru smirked and whispered back to his sire, "I have made my bed, father, and I fully intend to lie in it." Inu chuckled and patted his son on the back acknowledging the meaning of Sesshomaru's words.

"So," Miroku blurted out, "I hear congratulations are in order for you and Kagome, Sesshomaru."

"Where did you hear that?" Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow as he asked his question.

"One of the nurses at the hospital mentioned something," Sango honestly replied.

"Keh," Inuyasha broke into the conversation with his infamous scoffing sound, "Koga wasn't too happy about it at first, Kagome, but he got over it real quick when that red-headed wolf demoness showed up in her candy striper uniform."

"I love the hospital," Miroku thought out loud with a love-struck expression on his face.

"Shut up, boy!" Sesshomaru barked as he rushed forward and roughly grabbed Inuyasha by the front of his shirt, "Who in hell is this Koga you mentioned?" Sesshomaru was now seething with rage as the thought of another male pursuing HIS Kagome, his eyes were beginning to turn red.

Kagome turned to the angered demon and calmly walked up to him placing a delicate hand on his arm in an effort to make him calm down. "Koga's this wolf demon in Inuyasha's and my drama class," she explained, "He doesn't mean anything to me and there is nothing going on between the two of us."

"Then why did you let him buy your lunch yesterday?" Big mouthed Miroku asked before Sango hit him soundly on the back of his head to silence him.

Kagome could not believe her ears and she was pissed. Sesshomaru was staring and growling at her. "He was annoying me. I had to let him buy my lunch so he would leave me alone. Besides, I didn't get a chance to eat it because I got ATTACKED!" She shouted at the growling Inu reminding him what had happened to her.

"Okay, you two stop it now," the Taisho pack leader commanded, "Go for a walk in the gardens and don't come back until you've buried this issue!" He pointed to the door and waited for them to leave. The arguing couple made their way to the door. Sesshomaru slowly turned his head around to look at his sire, who, in return, gave him a serious look and re-pointed his finger at the door and gruffly said, "OUT!"

Sesshomaru turned back around and sighed bowing his head and slumping his shoulders submitting to his fathers command. He pushed Kagome out the front door before she put in her two cents and closed the door behind them.

"As for you four," Inu turned his attention to the four teens in front of him, "Yes, it is true, Sesshomaru asked Kagome to be his mate and she accepted. Are there any more questions?" He waited for a moment, "Good. Now go to your rooms and do your homework." He had gotten so angry he was breathing heavily by the time he made is last comment.

The teens hesitated as they looked at one another. Miroku and Sango got up and said their goodbyes as they left. Inuyasha and Rin did as their father told them and quietly headed to their rooms.

During the confrontation, Izayoi had returned to her mate's side. She stared at Inu in awe of the authority he exuded. She placed her small delicate hands softly on his broad tight shoulders and began massaging them. She felt him beginning to relax under her touch. She leaned her head against his back sliding her hands down his back and around his waist pulling him into a hug. In a seductive voice she asked, "Do you know how sexy you are when you display your authority like that?"

Inu grinned at his mate's words. His grin grew even wider when the intense scent of her arousal hit his nose. "Does this mean I'm getting lucky tonight?" He asked reaching around him instinctively placing his hands on her buttocks and squeezing them.

"Oh," Izayoi gasped when he groped before saying, "I think I you need to relax . . . with my help . . . in the hot tub." She felt him squeeze her a little harder as she spoke. Smiling at his friskiness, she released the embrace from around his waist and reached around her to remove his hands from her bottom. "I have to feed the kids first," she said moving away from him, "Then we can play as long as you want." Before walking away to the kitchen, she playfully smacked his behind making him jump and turn around to look at her with mischief twinkling in his eyes.

Later that Evening

Inuyasha and Rin were sitting at the kitchen table eating homemade nachos (with no peppers) when their father came in with a big grin on his face. He walked over to them and pulled out his wallet. They gave their father a confused look as he handed them his platinum no limit credit card. As he walked to the refrigerator he said, "You two go amuse yourselves for awhile. Go see a movie or something," he grabbed a new can of whipped cream and a bowl of strawberries and pushed the door shut with his foot. "On second thought, you'd better make that a double feature. Your mother and I are going to be busy for awhile," he said as his grin widened and he wiggled his eyebrows up and down at the sound of the music coming from the master bedroom. The two hanyous' eyes became as big as saucers when they heard it -- the first six notes of Marvin Gaye's song Lets Get It On.

"DAAD! It's a school night!" Rin protested with a mouthful of chips.

"Sorry, pups," Inu shrugged as he ascended the stairs and explained, "You know when you mother has her mind set on something she always gets what she wants. And right now, that would be she and I in the hot tub."

"Run, Rin!" Inuyasha yelled. They both scrambled from the kitchen abandoning their unfinished snack as they ran out the front door holding their hands over their sensitive ears. They ran into Sesshomaru and Kagome, happily holding hands, returning from their "walk" in the garden.

"What's wrong?" Sesshomaru asked. He got his answer when he heard "the song" coming from the master bedroom window. "Oh dear god," he stated lividly. He squeezed Kagome's shoulder with the hand from the arm that was resting on her shoulders. Kagome heard the music as well. Even she knew what that music meant.

"OLD PEOPLE HOT TUB SEX!!!!" The three Taisho siblings screamed at the same time.

"Do you have it?" Sesshomaru asked Inuyasha.

"Right here," he replied holding up the credit card.

"Dad said for us to go see a double feature" Rin asked.

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with someone wanting to spend quality time with their mate. It's perfectly natural." Kagome said.

"Somehow, when you know it's your parents having sex," Inuyasha explained, "It just seems to go against all the laws of nature."

Just at that moment they heard an extremely loud and lustful howl come from the master bedroom making them all cringe at the thought of what was going on.

"Better make that a triple feature," Sesshomaru said rushing off in a race against the others to get to his vehicle. He unlocked his silver Lexus Prestige(c) Hybrid allowing Rin and Inuyasha to enter first. He then went to front passenger side to open the door for Kagome.

As he opened the door, Kagome looked at him suggestively and huskily whispered, "You have a hot tub at the penthouse right?" Sesshomaru blinked twice and swallowed hard before nodding yes to his mate-to-be's bold question. "Good," she continued in a sickly sweet tone, "You'd better make sure you do not have that song or any other cheesy make out song like that in you CD collection . . . Understand?" She batted her eyelashes at him before entering the vehicle.

"Perish the thought," he assured her closing her door. 'Note to self--hide my Marvin Gaye and '80s soft ballads CDs before Kagome finds them.' He climbed into the driver's seat, closed the door, buckled up and drove off to the nearest movie theater.

5 Hours Later

The vehicle carrying the four movie goers rolled up the long driveway and came to a halt in front of the Taisho mansion. All eyes and ears were trained on the master bedroom window hoping that the lights were out and the music had stopped. They all saw flickering candle light illuminating the room under surveillance. Two sets of triangle-shaped ears, one silver and one black, began twitching at the sound of the music.

"You have got to be kidding!" Inuyasha exclaimed pounding his forehead against the back headrest of the driver's seat trying to expunge the visions of his parents having hot, wild animal sex out of his mind.

"I will throw you through their bedroom window for a ringside seat if you continue to abuse my vehicle," Sesshomaru warned his brother.

"Why do ya think I'm bangin' my head in the first place genius?" Inuyasha barked, "You ain't the one who walked into the kitchen in the middle of the night and found them leanin' over a counter doin' the dirty dog!"

"Ew! You didn't have to share," Rin exclaimed making a face as her body violently shuddered at the image Inuyasha's words burned into her brain.

"When you say counter," Kagome asked out of curiosity, "Do you mean the counter that you seem to go out of your way to avoid?"

"Thaaat would be the one," Inuyasha stated and nodded as he folded his arms akimbo.

"I will never prepare my food on that counter again," Rin pledged in a monotone voice as she stared into space.

"Alright," Sesshomaru said deciding to take control of the situation, "It can't be that bad now. Perhaps they fell asleep leaving the candles burning and stereo playing. It should be safe for you to return to your rooms."

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed, "And monkeys might fly out my ass. There is no way I'm going back in that house right now."

"Me neither," Rin agreed.

"Well, then why don't you three stay in the pool house?" Sesshomaru suggested, "You can set the alarm on your cell phone to wake up in time to get ready for school."

Sesshomaru's words stirred up old memories for Kagome. She became unnerved by the words 'pool house.' Inuyasha instantly became aware of the change in Kagome's demeanor and looked at her with deep concern in his eyes. He knew what those words meant to her.

Sesshomaru noticed the change in Kagome as well. "I'd rather not stay there," Kagome said trying to keep her voice from sounding panicky. Rather than pressing the issue as to why she did not want to stay at the pool house, he decided to make and inquiry at another time.

"Well, I'm still not going into the house right now," Rin said still refusing to return home.

"Fine," Sesshomaru stated getting out of the car, "Kagome and I will go inside and get yours and Inuyasha's books, uniforms and toiletries for you. Kagome can stay with me," he added with a smirk playing on his lips. Still shaken, Kagome let herself out and followed her irritated mate-to-be into the mansion.

Sesshomaru took a deep breath and nodded at Kagome indicating he was going to open the front door. Kagome nodded back to him and prepared to haul ass up the stairs. She gasped as he grabbed her around the waist holding her to him. He opened the door and flew up the stairs with demon speed and stopped in front of Inuyasha's room. He set Kagome on her feet and exhaled only to lean down and bury his nose in the crook of her neck and inhale her scent.

"Why did you do that?" She asked curiously.

He moved his lips next to her ear and whispered, "I need your scent to block out the scent of my parents' 'friskiness'. It is so thick in the air it was permeating through the front door," he pulled Kagome close to his body allowing her to feel something rather hard against her stomach and licked the outer shell of her ear causing her to inhale sharply, "It's causing my beast to give me some very naughty suggestions."

"Oh, my," Kagome gasped in shock and blushed.

The moment was interrupted by the sounds of soft moans and lusty growls coming from the master bedroom. Kagome blushed even more at the sound of her guardians engaging in sexual activities. Sesshomaru crossed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief which caused to Kagome to bust out laughing. He immediately placed a clawed hand over her mouth to silence her when he heard a very dangerous warning growl coming from his parents' room. "We must hurry and get the things we need," he whispered, "Father's beast is feels challenged by my presence. In the state he's in right now, he will not see me as being his pup." Kagome stopped laughing and nodded. He removed his hand and they hurried to get the things from Inuyasha's and Rin's rooms.

Then they entered Kagome's room to retrieve her stuff. She opened her top dresser draw revealing, to Sesshomaru's and his beast's delight, very sexy lacy lingerie of varying colors and designs. She grabbed a few pairs of panties and bras and threw them in her overnight bag. She froze when she felt Sesshomaru pressing the same hardness from before into her backside as he leaned forward again to inhale her scent. His beast feeling a bit frisky took the opportunity to compel his master to reach a hand into the drawer and pick up a lacy black thong and dangle it in front of Kagome's face. "These as well, please," he said flashing a fanged grin at her. She snatched the dangling unmentionables from his hand, "Stop that," she ordered with a blush covering her cheeks.

Trying her best to ignore him, Kagome opened another drawer and started to pull out pajamas. This time he snatched the sleepwear from her hand and dropped them back into the drawer and whispered in his smooth, seductive voice, "You won't need those tonight or any other night."

He began dropping feather-like kisses down the side of her neck. Doing this seemed to put Kagome in some sort of trance as she responded by leaning back into him and raising her arm to put her hand on the side of his face. Both master and beast were pleased with the bitch's reaction, that is until she pulled her hand off his face and returned it with a sobering hard slap making the beast relinquish his control over his master. "Oooww!" He exclaimed putting his hand to stinging side of his face, "What possessed you to do that?" He asked more that slightly irritated.

"There is a horny, not to mention, angry and deadly Alpha Inu Yokai in master bedroom," Kagome, now facing him, stated sarcastically, "Remember? And just as a tidbit of personal trivia, I'm not into necrophilia."

"Point taken," Sesshomaru agreed with her. He once again he pulled her close to him and picked up the bags she could not hold and swiftly fled the mansion. When they returned to the car, Inuyasha and Rin were sitting on the trunk waiting impatiently for the two home invaders.

"Took ya long enough," Inuyasha complained as he hopped off his perch. Rin followed her brother's lead.

"Yeah," she agreed and inquired, "What were you guys doing? Or do we want to know?"

"Well," Kagome said poking a thumb in the direction of the mansion, "It's certainly wasn't what they're doing."

"At least not yet . . . anyway," Sesshomaru added with a smirk.

"Oh lord," Inuyasha exclaimed as he grabbed his bags and stomped off to the pool house, "I'm outta here."

"Yeah," Rin said mimicking her brother's irritation, "What he said?" She grabbed her stuff and followed Inuyasha to their temporary living quarters.

"Goodnight!" Kagome hollered at them as they left. Both hanyous waved goodbye as they walked away.

Sesshomaru closed the trunk after placing Kagome's bags inside and walked over to the passenger side of the car to open the door for her. "Let's go home."

Kagome walked over to him and stopped. Standing on the tips of her toes, she kissed him on the cheek she had slapped earlier and said, "That sounds nice." She got in the car and put on her seat belt as he closed her door.

Sesshomaru smiled to himself, got inside the car and started the engine. Before putting the car in gear, he leaned over to Kagome, without a word he kissed her on her cheek and smiled at her. She smiled back at him lovingly. He leaned back up, put the car in gear and drove back to the penthouse.


	10. Chapter 9 Are You Serious?

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything associated with the concept. This goes for Chapter 8 as well because I forgot to put the disclaimer at the top.

_AN: I would like to thank those who have read and reviewed this story and the first chapter of my new work which will be a collection of one shots called Playing Games. I greatly appreciate your praise and suggestions and I hope to tie up . . . (Miroku is now sitting next to me looking expectantly at me with his hands clasped under his chin. No, Miroku, I'm not going to tie up anybody. So get your mind out of the gutter. "I didn't say anything." Yeah, but you were thinking it, now go away before I call Sango. Miroku gets up and slowly backs away from me in fear.) I hope to tie up a few loose ends left over from other chapters in this chapter. _

**Chapter 9 – Are You Serious?**

On the drive to the penthouse, Sesshomaru's beast still felt very playful from the earlier events and encouraged his master to play a game with their intended. Sesshomaru grinned and reached his long arm over to Kagome and placed his hand on her knee squeezing it. Watching the city's night skyline through the window had lulled Kagome into a hypnotic state. She was almost asleep when she jumped as the result of Sesshomaru squeezing her knee. "God, Sessho!" She exclaimed as she swatted his hand away, "Why'd you do that?"

"Because I felt like it," was his reply.

"Well, don't," she was now seething, "You scared the jeebies out of my heebies!"

"Fine," Sesshomaru said. As soon as she turned to look out the window, he grinned and squeezed her just above the knee making her jump again.

"Stop it!" Kagome whined as she swatted his hand away once more with a little more gusto.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help my self," he apologized in a playful tone as he shrugged his shoulders. She narrowed her eyes at him before crossing her arms and looking strait ahead, the whole time she was trying not to laugh.

He put his possessed hand on the steering wheel to lure Kagome into a false sense of security and it worked. She still had her arms crossed signifying she was annoyed with him, but she had turned back to look out her window only to keep him from seeing the grin tugging at her lips. He grinned again. This time he slipped his hand onto her inner thigh making her jerk her body sideways against the door. She swatted his hand and then attacked the rest of his arm several times with both of her hands making him pull his hand off of her so he could defend himself from her battery, all the while the dog demon was chuckling at her annoyance with him.

"Sesshomaru," she tried to sound angry but she couldn't help but giggle while she was hitting him, "You jerk! I told you to stop. You're gonna' wreck the car and get us killed!" She finally stopped her attack and shifted back to the position she was in before he laid his hand on her. She turned to him and hit him one more time for good measure.

"Okay, okay," Sesshomaru said breathless from his laughing. He quickly regained his composure and became serious, "I'll stop."

Kagome turned back to face the front but watched him from the corner of her eye. They both grinned as he once again let his hand stray to her leg. This time she grabbed the frisky appendage and laced their fingers together, "Not this time, mister," she said holding her captured trophy in the air showing him he had been defeated.

He pulled their hands to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles and then lowered their linked hands to the space between them. He smiled and sarcastically said, "Alright, I know when I'm out witted." Kagome opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind but was interrupted by him saying, "Oh, look. We've arrived," as he pulled his trapped hand out of hers and placed it back on the steering wheel. He turned into the underground parking garage and came to a stop when he reached his parking space. They exited the vehicle and met at the rear of the car. Sesshomaru opened the trunk and pulled out Kagome's bag then closed the trunk.

When they got to the penthouse elevator, Sesshomaru pulled out his key to open the doors. Once inside the elevator, Kagome went to one side and Sesshomaru followed her in turning to face the button laden panel and activated the button to the penthouse. When he turned back around to join her, he saw that she moved to the opposite side from him. He gave her a questioning look and started to move next to her but stopped when she said, "No way, Jose. You stay over there so I can keep an eye on that Miroku-possessed hand of yours."

There was an awkward silence between the two before the elevator came to a stop and opened up to the spacious penthouse. Kagome made a move to enter Sesshomaru's home but he stopped her, "Wait right there," he commanded as he stepped to the entrance and bent over to put her bag inside. When he bent over, Kagome could not resist the urge – it was as if his well muscled butt was had a sign that said "pinch me." He jerked up with wide eyes as she goosed him and quickly turned to face a grinning Kagome. His eyes narrowed at her as he scooped her up bridal style and accused her, "Now who has the Miroku-possessed hand?"

"Sesshomaru," Kagome protested, "What are you doing?"

"This is the first time you've been to my place." He said as he carried her inside, "I wanted to carry you across the threshold as my mate but, since we are not mated yet, I'm going to carry you across now."

"Awe," Kagome cooed as she kissed one of the stripes on his cheek, "You're such a romantic."

Sesshomaru set her on her feet and cupped her face with his hands, staring into her eyes. As he leaned in to kiss her, Kagome closed her eyes and relished the way his lips gently brushed against hers. He pulled back and brushed his thumbs across her cheeks. When she opened her eyes he smiled at her and said, "Why don't you go get ready for bed? I'll be there in a second."

"Okay," she said in a daze as she walked in the direction he pointed for her to go.

As soon as she was out of sight, his smile faded and he quickly tip toed over to his CD collection next to the stereo system. He quickly ran his finger up and down the rows of CDs looking for the music the Kagome had mentioned earlier that had better not be in his music repertoire. Sesshomaru did not realize that he had so many of the said CDs Kagome disliked. Almost one quarter of his collection was sappy make out music. He looked around for a place to stash them. A place she would never look, 'aha', he exclaimed to himself as he ran over to the oversized urn he used to store his umbrellas. "Sesshomaru," Kagome called out causing him to carelessly dump the CDs into the urn causing some of them to slide inside one of the umbrellas, "do you have a shirt I could borrow to sleep in?"

He scooped up her bag and hurried into the bedroom just barely missing running into her. "I thought I said you would not need to wear anything when you are in bed with me," he reminded her as he set her bag on the bed and took off his shoes and socks.

"But," she started, "I don't feel comfortable being naked with you right now." She watched him move his hands to his belt to unbuckle it and then unbutton and unzip his pants to pull out the bottom of his shirt. In doing so, he showed her his ripped lower abs causing her to blush deeply and quickly avert her eyes. She could not believe he was casually stripping in front of her as if they had been mates for years.

"I don't see why not," he said and smirked as he removed his shirt to reveal his remarkably sexy well built upper torso to his shy female. "You're not shy about wearing a bikini around me, besides, we'll be seeing each other naked – a lot," he emphasized the last part of his remark by wiggling his eyebrows as he dropped the shirt on the floor.

Kagome bit her lip in frustration and said, "Fine, I'll wear a bra and underwear to bed." She looked at him just as he slid his pants down to his ankles and kicked them off next to the shirt. She swallowed hard as he was now wearing only black silk boxers that she thought made him look super sexy.

"Alright," he said slyly as he opened her bag and reached inside pulling out two articles of the same colored lingerie, one of them being the thong he insisted she pack, "but you have to wear these." He dangled the delicate under garments in front of Kagome who snatched them from his grasp and mumbled "Fine" under her breath as she headed to the bathroom to change.

While he waited for Kagome to come out of the bathroom, he set the alarm clock, removed his boxers and got into bed under the covers. He lay on his right side with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles as he propped himself up on his right elbow. He positioned the covers so they were resting across his waist revealing only his upper body to her when she exited the bathroom. Sesshomaru heard the bathroom door opening. He and his beast were anxious to lay their eyes the sight they were about to see. Both were extremely disappointed to see Kagome in his big terry cloth bathrobe. He sighed heavily and cocked a questioning eyebrow at her. Her shoulders slumped in defeat and once more said, "Fine." She untied the robe and let it slide off her body onto the floor revealing, much to his delight, her very skimpily clad body.

This time it was her turn to sigh heavily and cock a questioning eyebrow at him. Sesshomaru smirked as held out the clawed index finger of his left hand and pointed it down while making a circling motion in the air indicating he wanted her to turn in a circle for him. She rolled her eyes and quickly turned in a circle. "Again, please," he requested, "slower this time."

"Are you serious," she asked in an irritated tone. His only reply was him smirking while he twirled his finger. This time she complied with Sesshomaru's request. She turned around little by little allowing him to absorb the sight of her curves and beautiful skin. As she turned to reveal her back, he began to become aroused at the sight of her uncovered rear end. 'Gods, how I love thongs,' he thought. He was brought out of his fantasizing when she asked, "Can I get in the bed now, I'm really tired and I need to go to school tomorrow."

"Certainly," Sesshomaru answered as he pulled back her side of the covers and patted the spot next to him, "Come on in. I won't bite . . . much." He grinned at her as she gave him a look of irritation.

She slid into the spot next to him with her back towards him and pulled the covers up to her neck before saying, "Not tonight, dear. I have a headache caused by the 15 stitches in the back of my head." She thought to her self, 'There, that bucket of ice cold water should put out any burning desires he had for tonight.'

Sesshomaru's grin faded as a look of concern washed over his face. Keeping the covers between them, he pulled her towards him until she was tightly snuggled against his chest. He gently kissed her head wound and moved down to her neck to nuzzle it. "I'm sorry, I did forget. You make me forget just about everything when I'm with you," he confessed.

"Just like you forgot to turn out the light," she asked playfully. He laughed a little and reached behind him to turn off the bedside lamp. She took his left hand as he placed back on her waist and linked it with her own left hand. She pulled it to her lips and kissed his knuckles before she curled their hands in between her breasts just over her heart and fell asleep. Sesshomaru and his beast were content with this display of affection. With the signature Inu yokai purr rolling from his chest, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 10 Just an Ordinary Wednesday

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Inuyasha.

_AN: I know these things are annoying, but I have to let you all know that I had planned on publishing an almost 25 page chapter. After looking at it, I decided that it needed to be divided into 2 chapters Just an Ordinary Wednesday . . . Not--Part 1 and Part 2. I put a little citrus flavoring in the beginning of this chapter. I promise the big fat lemon will be posted in part 2. So, Part 1 contains some very mature subject matter sexual in origin._

**Chapter 10 – Just an Ordinary Wednesday . . . Not--Part 1**

TIME TO START THE DAY

_(ALERT: Do not read if you are not mature enough—you have been warned. Oh, yeah, if you blink while you are reading you may miss it.)_

Kagome was sound asleep and in the middle of a very perverted dream that would make Miroku seem like a saint. Sesshomaru had been awake for the past fifteen minutes. The scent of his very aroused female lured him from his slumber. Amused with what was going on, he watched Kagome writhe and softly moan in her sleep, "Oooh, Sesshomaru. Yeah right there, mmmm." He smirked and thought, 'this is going to be one hell of a wake up call for her.'

Sesshomaru's beast had convinced his master to make her dreams come true. After all, he only wanted Kagome to be happy and get whatever she desired. Carefully he pulled the comforter and sheets off of them. His eyes delightfully roamed over her scantily clad body. He lightly placed a hand on one of her thighs causing her to jerk her knee up and slide back down to the bed slightly spreading her legs as she continued to respond to her erotic dream. He licked his lips as he carefully moved himself so that he was kneeling between her legs. The sight of the soaked cloth barely covering his desired target and the heavy scent of her arousal was not helping him in sticking to his plan. Ignoring the pain of his growing erection, he slid his hands underneath her knees hooking them over his shoulders. He gently reached his hands around her inner thighs and hooked two clawed fingers around the strip of cloth covering her hidden treasure and pulled it to one side. Sesshomaru's eyes began to bleed red as his lust to take Kagome grew. His heavy sigh caressed her heated slit causing her to thrust up toward his face. Mesmerized by the mass quantity of her feminine juices he mused, 'Ah, the sweet nectar of my goddess.' (_I know it sounds horny—I mean corny._) He leaned forward and, using his entire tongue, licked in between her nether lips in one slow hard motion from bottom to top in an effort to consume her nectar all at once.

Kagome's eyes flew open and her knees jerked up involuntarily striking Sesshomaru on either side of his head surprising him. He jerked backwards and fell away from Kagome holding the sides of his head, "OW!" he yelled in pain as he fell backwards so that he was lying on his back. Meanwhile, Kagome's legs that resting on his shoulders were tossed upwards when he jerked back and fell back down to the bed with a hard thud, at least she thought it was the bed until Sesshomaru howled in pain as he moved his hands from head to his groin and turned on his side. "OH! I think I'm going to die!" He grunted out as his face turned almost the same color as his stripes.

"Oh my god, Sesshomaru," Kagome gasped, "I am so sorry." She crawled over to him to offer her comfort.

He put up one hand to keep her at bay and managed to strain out through a groan, "I'll . . . be . . . okay." He was now panting trying to make the immobilizing pain leave his body. Kagome still tried to comfort him but her intensions were again declined by the dog demon. Just then the alarm clock went off—it was time to get up and start the day.

"Fine," Kagome said in a hurt tone, "That's what you get for doing something you weren't given permission to do in the first place." She jumped out of the bed, picked up the beeping alarm clock and hurled it onto the floor and ran to the bathroom to take a shower.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes squeezing out the tears of pain that had welled up in them. He focused on his breathing trying to calm down so he would not pass out from the pain. As his panting slowed to deep controlled breaths, he thought out loud, "That's the last time I take advice from you." His shamed beast tucked its tail between its legs and laid down putting both paws over its head trying to hide from its master. Sesshomaru laid on the bed and tried to concentrate on something other than the extreme pain was experiencing as he waited for his turn in the shower.

BACK TO SCHOOL

Neither Sesshomaru nor Kagome said one word to each other after the "wake up call" incident. It wasn't that they were mad at each other it was that they felt awkward about what had happened. The silence continued as Sesshomaru drove her to school. When he pulled up and stopped in front of the school, he reached out and touched Kagome on her arm before she exited the car. She turned to him and he smiled before he said, "It wasn't your fault and I still love you." He leaned over to kiss her goodbye. She leaned in as well so their lips briefly connected.

"I love you too," she said smiling back at him as she got out of the car and shut the door. She started to walk to the school doors when she heard him honk at her. She turned to see the window rolling down.

"I have a meeting with Naraku at his company this morning and will probably be there most of the day," he told her as he waved goodbye, rolled up the window and drove away.

Anyone mentioning Naraku's name or even the thought of his name or anything about him made Kagome cringe. She was startled out of her thoughts when someone came up behind her and yelled "Boo!"

"Oh god," Kagome exclaimed, "Damn it, Sango. You scared the crap out of me." Her best friend embraced her tightly.

"I'm so glad to see you at school today," Sango said. "We have a lot to catch up on, if you know what I mean," she stated winking at Kagome.

"Yes," Miroku butted in the conversation, "That was quite a little lip-lock you had going on with Sesshomaru. Makes me wonder what you two were doing last night."

"Shut up, you pervert," Kagome said as she hit him as hard as she could on his arm with her fist.

Miroku grabbed his upper arm where she had hit him and yelled in a child-like tone, "Oooow! That Hurt!"

"Shut up, you big baby," Sango said as she latched herself to on of Kagome's arms. "Come on, Kagome. We're going to be late." The two girls walked into the school and headed to their first period class.

"So where are Rin and Inuyasha?" Sango asked her friend.

"I'll let them explain everything when they do get here," Kagome stated not wanting to recall last night's activities at he Taisho mansion.

"Okay," said Sango before they were interrupted by their drama teacher.

"Miss Higurashi, I'm glad to see that you are well enough to return to school," Mrs. Johnson said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Johnson," Kagome replied politely. She started to enter the classroom but was stopped by Mrs. Johnson's hand. Kagome gave her teacher a questioning look.

"Principal Hoshiyomi wishes to see you in his office this morning," Mrs. Johnson explained, "You may wish to bring your things with you."

Kagome had a confused expression on her face as she looked from her teacher to Sango. Sango had the same expression as she looked at her friend and shrugged her shoulders indicating that she did not know anything about the meeting. Kagome turned around and headed down the hallway to the principal's office.

IN THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE

The office secretary looked up to see Kagome entering through the door. She smiled and instructed the girl, "Good Morning, Kagome. Please have a seat and he'll be right with you." Kagome sat down in a chair against the wall and began to nervously pick at imaginary lint on her skirt. It wasn't until 30 minutes after the tardy bell rang that Vice-Principal Koyuki called Kagome into the principal's office.

"Good Morning, Miss Higurashi," Mr. Hoshiyomi greeted the senior, "Please, take a seat." He motioned his hand toward one of the two chairs in front of his desk. Miss Koyuki moved behind his desk and sat in the corner to the right of him. Kagome closed the door behind her and apprehensively sat down in the chair closest to the door. "I see you're a little nervous as to why you were summoned to my office." She quickly nodded twice as she tried not to look into their eyes. They were really making her nervous like she had done something wrong.

Principal Hoshiyomi smiled in an attempt to placate the nervous student and to be honest it wasn't working very well. Kagome managed to smile back a little as she waited for his explanation.

"I'm very glad to see that you are well," he started with the pleasant part of the conversation. "I was quite surprised to hear from the hospital that you were released yesterday afternoon. I suppose you injuries looked much worse than they really were."

Kagome instinctively reached a hand to the back of her head where the stitches were and said, "The doctor had to use 15 stitches to sew up the gash on the back . . . ." She switched the subject as soon as she got a weird feeling in her gut, "Don't I need to have a guardian or a lawyer or something?"

The principal dropped his smile and took a deep breath before saying, "If you wish to have someone present during this conversation, then, by all means, call the representative of your choice and we shall continue." He slid the phone on his desk toward Kagome and sat back in his chair with his hands folded in his lap.

Kagome picked up the receiver of the phone and dialed the number to the mansion. It rang a few times before Izayoi answered in a sing-song tone in voice, "Goood Mooorning, Taisho residence." She swatted her mate's mischievous hands off her hips.

"Mama," Kagome said in a shaky voice as if she were about to cry.

"Kagome, what's wrong dear," Izayoi immediately became serious.

Inu, concerned for his ward, took the phone from his mate and spoke in a commanding voice, "Kagome, tell me what's going on." He listened intently as she explained. "Don't say another word to them, I'm on my way, dear." He instructed his ward and then hung up the phone. "Izayoi," he said turning to his mate with a forced smile, "Call the office and inform them that I will be later than I planned. Wake those two pups of ours up and get them off to school. I am going to take care of a problem Kagome is having at school." He kissed her on her forehead and rushed out the door.

Kagome sat uncomfortably for another 30 minutes before Inu finally arrived at the school and barged through the principal's office door with no announcement. With the Inu Yokai's towering presence, the office seemed to shrink in size. He looked at his ward and smiled as he placed a reassuring hand on Kagome's shoulder calming her nerves somewhat. She raised one side of her mouth in a lop-sided smile to acknowledge her surrogate father. The vice-principal swallowed nervously and Hoshiyomi raised an eyebrow, "Mr. Taisho, I presume," he deduced as he held out his hand. Inu, sizing up his opponent, stared down at the principal making the lesser demon feel uncomfortable before taking the offered hand before him in a brief handshake. "P-please have a seat," he stuttered. Inu sat in the chair next to Kagome.

Inu, who was not one to beat around the bush, came out and asked, "What is all of this nonsense about?"

Hoshiyomi was a bit taken aback by the dog demon coming into his territory and trying to take over the situation. "Mr. Taisho, I assure you that this is not nonsense. It is in fact very serious."

"Explain yourself," Inu commanded him.

The principal narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Your ward, Miss Higurashi, was involved in an on-campus altercation. Granted the instigators were arrested and expelled from school, Miss Higurashi was also part of the disturbance. We are happy that she was not seriously injured, but she must also be punished for taking part in the fight. She is to report to our Alternative School to continue her education until the end of the semester. In all honesty, she's lucky that the student Kagome assaulted did not press charges to have her arrested."

"I see," Inu stated as he stared at the principal with no emotion showing on his face. "Are there any other options from which Kagome may choose?"

"Well," Hoshiyomi began, "Since she is a senior and only two weeks away from graduation, home schooling is out of the question."

"If I may be as so bold to suggest something," Vice-Principal Koyuki interrupted, "Kagome can check out of school and attend a class allowing her to obtain her GED."

Inu looked at Kagome waiting for her to answer. Biting her lower lip, she looked at her guardian with uncertainty in her eyes. He gently smiled at the poor girl and said looking directly at Kagome, "I will not have a member of my pack treated like a common bullying thug by having her attend the Alternative School. I see nothing wrong with obtaining a GED to gain access to collegiate studies." He knew he gave the right answer when he saw a warm smile spread over Kagome's face. He turned to the principal and said, "What papers do we need to fill out to withdraw her from this school?"

Koyuki left the office only for a moment and returned with the required paperwork and handed it to Inu who quickly read each of the six pages before allowing Kagome to sign anything. The vice-principal once again left the office. They filled in the needed information and Kagome signed and dated the bottom of each page as did Inu. The papers were handed to Hoshiyomi who in turn handed Kagome a small cardboard box filled with the personal contents from her locker. As she handed over the textbook she had carried to her drama class, Koyuki returned with a folder and handed it to Kagome. "This is a copy of your transcript in case you need it for anything," she said. "And, please, let us know if you need anything else."

Inu stood up and reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a card and said, "Yes, there is one more thing you can do for us," he handed the small card to Hoshiyomi, "Please pass this on to the school district's administrator. It's the name, address and phone numbers of our attorney. He will be contacting the school district on behalf of Kagome regarding the lack of security at this school." With that said, he ushered Kagome out of the office and out of the building just as the bell releasing students from second period rang.

When they reached his car, Inu asked Kagome, "Are you okay with the choice we just made, dear?"

Kagome took a deep breath and smiled, "Yes, I'm okay with the decision. I just have to say one thing, though."

"And what is that my dear," he asked as he opened her door.

"Is that what it's like to do business with you? Cause if it is, I feel sorry for your competitors." She commented as she got in the car.

He smiled and asked, "What competitors?" He shut the door and went to the driver's side to get in.

"Riiight," Kagome said sarcastically as she laughed at his comment.

"Now," Inu said turning on the ignition, "Let's go tell your mother what happened."

AT THE TAISHO MANSION

Izayoi spent the better part of an hour and a half trying to rouse her lazy pups out of their beds in the pool house. She finally got them to get up when she threatened to elaborate on what she and Inu did with the strawberries and whipped cream last night. The three pack members began their short walk back to the mansion so she could fix them something to eat. The entire time they walked, Inuyasha complained, "I don't see why we have to go to school. We've already missed our first two classes and most of third period."

"You have to go to school to get an education so you can decide what field of work you wish to enter when you graduate," she told him as she reached a hand to his head and ruffed up the hair in between his ears.

"Mo-om," he whined swatting her hand away, "I'm not a baby any more."

"You're still my baby and so is Rin," Izayoi said as she put her arm around her daughter. She then continued her lecture about their education, "You need to get into college to learn about something you are interested in. You don't want to work for you father do you?"

"Why not? Sesshomaru does," Inuyasha made a point and then made another on when he say his dad's car pulling up with Kagome inside, "Besides, if Kagome doesn't have to be at school today, why should we?"

Izayoi saw Inu opening the car door for Kagome who was carrying a box full of things with her.

"Dad! Kagome!" Rin smiled as she shouted. She ran towards the two pack members exiting the vehicle and flung her arms around her dad's neck to hug him.

Izayoi and her son hurried over to the two pack members who just arrived. She looked at the box in Kagome's hand and asked, "What happened?"

"Let's all go inside and I will explain everything," Inu said as he walked behind his family members ushering them inside the mansion.

AT NARAKU'S OFFICE

Naraku sat behind his large, elaborately decorated cherry wood desk waiting for Sesshomaru's answer.

Sesshomaru took a sip of his tea before addressing Naraku's proposal, "I believe a partnership would not be very profitable for either Western Lands Technologies or Onigumo Enterprises at this time. With the recent merger talks we had with Totosai Manufacturing, I'm surprised that we have not encountered any corporate spies trying to steal the deal away from us. I'm sure my father and the rest of our company's board members would agree. Perhaps we could discuss your proposal another time with all the board members present. I'm sure they would be interested in what you and your company have to offer."

"I see," Naraku stated flatly. "There is absolute nothing that I can offer that would sweeten the deal for you, old friend?" He asked slyly.

"I'm not partial to sweets, old friend," Sesshomaru replied, "You should know that since we were best friends growing up together."

"Well, there is one delectable sweet thing to which you are partial," the spider hanyou said in a way that made Sesshomaru's beast stir and raise its hackles, "How is our dear . . . Kagome?"

Sesshomaru suppressed his urge to rip out every thing necessary for Naraku to speak for even referring to HIS Kagome in that manner. He smiled briefly as his beast gave him the image of an eviscerated Naraku writhing in a pool of his own blood and calmly said, "Kagome is doing well, actually." He set down the tea cup he was holding on the table next to his chair. He looked directly at Naraku when he said to his 'old friend', "She has agreed to be my mate."

Naraku kept a neutral expression on his face but his body slightly stiffened in jealousy as he heard the words fall from Sesshomaru's lips. He then smiled and said, "Really. That's wonderful news. I always new you had a thing for her. Congratulations." He stood up and extended his hand toward the Inu.

Sesshomaru stood as well and accepted Naraku's offer of congratulations. "Thank you," he said as he shook Naraku's hand, "No if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with my father."

Naraku walked from behind his desk and escorted Sesshomaru to the door but did not open it. Instead he added a statement, "I still have not forgotten."

Sesshomaru questioned Naraku with a look.

"Kagura will be delivered as promised," he assured Sesshomaru.

"I had no doubt that you would not keep your word, Naraku," Sesshomaru said as he opened the door and walked out down the hall to the elevator.

Naraku watched until the dog demon was gone. He slammed the door shut so hard the door frame cracked not allowing the door to shut properly. He then walked back over to his desk and punched the corner so hard it splintered into at least 1000 pieces on the floor. He snatched up the phone and began barking orders, "KANNA! Get someone up her to fix my door and get me a new desk! I don't want anymore phone calls today and cancel all meetings for the rest of the day! I'll be in my private study relieving this pain making my head throb!" He slammed the receiver down into the cradle and stormed into his private study and slammed that door shut without it braking. He plopped down on his couch with thoughts anger and jealousy racing through his mind, 'Who does that mongrel think he is? First he refuses my partnership offer and then he informs me that he is going to take my bitch away from me by mating her. Sesshomaru Taisho, you will rue the day you stood in the way of Naraku Onigumo and what he desires most.' He sighed heavily as his mental ranting exhausted him. He grabbed the small recorder sitting on the table and placed the earphones in his ears. Turning the device on, he smiled as he listened to the suggestive conversation he had recorded between Sesshomaru and Kagome yesterday. Naraku closed his eyes and relaxed as he fantasized about future sexual escapades involving him and his soon to be mate . . . Kagome.


End file.
